


Dystopia 2077

by Appolinariusthepurplegladiator43



Series: Empire Of Sound [1]
Category: Just Shapes & Beats (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Dreams, Family Fluff, Final Boss, Gen, Humanized, I'm Sorry, Identity Issues, Implied/Referenced Body Dysphoria, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Manipulation, Misunderstood!AU, Past Lives, Pink Corruption, Post-Annihilate, Prison, Repressed Memories, Scars, Self-Discovery, Self-Indulgent, Swearing, Wrongful Imprisonment, how they eat breathe and function without a neck is beyond me..., i dont care about shape biology, snek - Freeform, there's so much cursing in this, what if Blixer isn't actually bad?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 43,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24792547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Appolinariusthepurplegladiator43/pseuds/Appolinariusthepurplegladiator43
Summary: Absolute purity.An untainted, undisturbed state. One predictable, one familiar. A state of likeness, though not to everyone's liking.A world of which cannot exist. Not without intervention.And with a "perfect" world only just out of reach, one is driven to do anything in their power to achieve that goal. Of course, there's always something in the way but time is of the essence.As the sand in the hourglass slowly slips away, the peak of a new dawn seems less and less tangible.And the desperation begins to settle itself comfortably within the consciousness.[UPDATED]
Series: Empire Of Sound [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041022
Comments: 35
Kudos: 64





	1. Now, Listen All Ye Fair Maids To How The Moral Goes (Nobody Knew And Nobody Knows)

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a long while now and I wanted to write it now while it's still stagnant in my mind. I do not claim own JSaB and the songs used in this fic belong to their amazing and wonderful artists and I urge you to go check them out. I'm just playing around with an idea I've had.
> 
> This is my own AU... I have no idea what I'm going to call this one...
> 
> Misunderstood!AU???
> 
> Yeah, let's just roll with that
> 
> I will not be updating regularly because I have no idea how long its going to take to write each chapter.
> 
> Edit: I've come up with a better name!! I'm so happy!
> 
> (Story Name: Dystopia 2077 - F.O.O.L & The Forgotten)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: The Moss - Cosmo Sheldrake

_A brilliance of white swept across the sky._

_The tall grasses thrashed in surprise as it passed, the still air was disturbed and the silence brushed softly. He turned his head towards the heavens, his ears picking up the barely audible sound and standing upright atop his head._

_It steadily rose, coming from the horizon, its form beginning to take shape._ _As it passed over him, he began running, chasing the trail of the iridescent body. He stared at it in awe, unable to take his eye off it, having never seen anything so... beautiful._

_He wasn't surprised that he could see it while it was noon; it was so bright, it was impossible not to. It glistened under the light of the Sun and its luminosity grew._

_Absently pushing the long threads of vegetation out of his path, he noticed that it had begun to slow down, its tail shortening. Confusion crossed his mind._

_Comets didn't do that..._

_He was sure..._

_It grew larger and larger in the endless blue, indicating that it was coming closer. Sparks erupted from its surface as it bore into the azure atmosphere. Confusion turned to fear as the bright light descended._

_The object began enveloping his vision, shrouding everything in a pearly white. He had to get back to the city. He had to warn them! He had to get inside!_ _He urged his legs to carry him faster._

_The hills weren't far from his home but they seemed an eternity away as he dashed over rocks and weaved around trees. The light began enveloping the sky and he could hear screams erupting from the streets as he closed the distance._

_The white of the object soon became too much for his eye and he had to stop running. He couldn't see. Blixer huddled himself under an overhanging rock and covered his face with his arms._

_There was silence._

_**And then there was pain**._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's start with a bang


	2. In The Morning, Blood Ran Through My Veins (Comatosed, Holy Ghost, Again And Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashes of a person that was and embers of the person that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter name: Kicks - Barns Courtney

Blixer's eyes cracked open slowly.

The pale twilight filtered in through the thin curtains, turning the already pink room a rich dark shade of magenta.

The Boss sat up gently, rubbing his face.

_... Been dreaming a lot about that lately, huh?..._

New Game groaned sleepily and yawned, (not actually opening his mouth) scratching the base of one of his stud like horns. He stretched out all 6 of his limbs, ears perking up at the satisfying clicks that followed. His wide permanent grin turned mildly genuine as he stood up off of his plush bed and opened the curtains.

Blixer frowned at the view. Dead trees, toxic rivers, active volcanoes and shapes with tar pouring out of their eye sockets shrouded in an eternal darkness was not what he wanted, believe it or not.

_This was only temporary... Hopefully._

He stepped away from the window and pulled on the black robe he had neatly folded on the armchair in the far corner of the room. He picked up his guitar and a grey notebook before leaving the space.

Ascending to the roof of the tower, Blixer opened the notebook and hummed the notes he'd written on the page while shoving his remaining hand into his pocket. The horned shape opened the last door and the night sky greeted him. He breathed in the sweet, crisp air.

It was mornings like these that gave him some peace of mind.

Blixer sat in the center of the platform and placed his guitar down next to him. He plucked the strings absent mindedly as he pulled a pen from his pocket and scribbled a few more notes onto the stave.

He pulled the guitar onto his lap as he finished up and began playing the song he'd written. He strummed softly and hummed the bits he couldn't play. He made annotations to his work as he did so. Of course, he had lyrics to go with it but he didn't want to sing them.

He wasn't very good at that part.

New game's ears stood up as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. It was unusual for anyone but him to come up to the roof and so spiked his curiosity. He straitened the appendages out as the pink flower opened the door.

He didn't want anyone to know that two of his horns weren't actually horns. Not even Cuda knows. And that's impressive. As courteous as the snake obsessed triangle appears to be, he's a nosy little sh-

"Boss, the "heroes" have breached the factory's security system! They're making their way past Try This and Vindicate Me as we speak! Into The Zone's been critically injured!"

.

.

.

**This guy better be joking.**

"What?! What about Barracuda and Lycanthropy?! Why have they not been called?!"

"...The volcano was p-purified, Sir."

Blixer wanted to laugh but the flower shape wasn't making any moves to either. Besides, he probably would push him off the edge if he did. But those two were not by any means weak, which means these "heroes" were much more of a problem than he'd initially thought.

He held back the urge to vomit. Being purified was a painful experience if you're naturally pink; it's the same if you're "pure" and you get "corrupted" (which is why this is temporary). You end up a mess either way.

_If you're not naturally that way, you're not going to look natural when you're changed._

Barracuda couldn't have been purified, he was too smart for that and Blixer had only just heard about the shape that got turned into a Boss after fusing with one of his "Tracks" so he wasn't sure if he would have been.

His grin shortened in anger.

_The plan was failing miserably. Something needed to be done._

"Why was I not notified?"

The flower was shaking.

"It happened so fast, w-we didn't have time to react... We're sorry, Sir..."

Blixer growled and stood up to his full height, straightening his robe. His book and guitar were already in his hands. The small messenger only came up to his shins.

"...Move the Treeangle piece up here and open the Tower Shaft. Rally the troops and do **not** let them get **anywhere** near the top of this building...

The Boss took a moment to pause.

"And if worst comes to worst... **I'll destroy them myself**."

The flower saluted and dashed off. The circle took a moment to stare at the stars and breathed. This was probably going to be the last time he ever got to see them. ~~He might join them in a few minutes time.~~

Blixer closed his eyes and basked in the sky, enjoying his possibly last moments of freedom, before walking briskly back to his rooms to prepare for the arrival of the biggest nuisances of his life (and that's saying something).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its hard.


	3. Try To Survive, Keep My Spirit Alive (But Like A Knife In The Woods, Yeah, You Hunt Down The Good In Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dying is such a wonderful experience, isn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: The Good In Me - Jon Bellion

**Should anyone have the experience of waking up next to the dead corpse of a 60ft creature?**

**_Probably not but here we are anyway._ **

Blixer's eyes flew open and he immediately sat up. He took deep, shaky gulps of air before promptly puking onto the soft ground. He retched for a few moments longer, hacking his lungs up and shivering.

The dizziness that came with the waking world lingered and a headache seemed imminent. He clutched his head and curled around himself. The need to vomit again was suppressed as he flopped back down on the grass.

His form twitched as the sensations of being alive coursed through him and his lungs displayed their dissatisfaction. Blixer groaned in pain as his body realized that it was sore after a few seconds and let him know. His bones ached, like they'd been stretched and rearranged in a number of impossible different ways (which was true).

Once the coughing fit died down and the shocks of being conscious again wore off, the shape took a moment to gage his surroundings and also what the fuck just happened.

_The plan failed, that much was obvious... And the Islands were still purified... And the Treeangle was still "growing"... And "everyone" was happy... And no one seemed to be any the wiser that he didn't, couldn't, actually die from-... from..._

.

.

.

_Was it really worth it anymore?_

He'd been trying for-...

He doesn't even know how long now...

And his all attempts were fruitless...

A waste of time and effort...

**No.**

**There is a reason he's doing this.**

**He's doing it for them.**

Blixer let out a strangled huff and rubbed his teary eyes. He had to keep trying ~~even if he kills himself over and over again doing it.~~

The sphere stood up shakily on the turquoise grass and stared up at the gargantuan carcass of the monster he'd created. The husk's empty bloodied sockets seemed to peer into his soul and a shudder clung to his spine. A hard expression crossed his features.

Closing his eyes, he simply patted its skin with a grey hand and wobbled off.

_An emotionless parting._

Blixer meandered around the wreckage of the Tower. The vibrant pink interiors and exteriors lay dashed on the soft earth, square one. He kicked some of the small pieces of debris out of his path as he walked through the rubble.

Yes, he was aware that he was nude and yes, he thought he might be able to find some of his belongings...

_And yes, he did find something._

Surprisingly, after a few minutes or hours (he didn't keep track) of searching, Blixer found his old jacket which the flowers had removed upon his grand entrance to the fight in the tower. It was a little dusty but he didn't mind. There is no reason not to enter a battle with style and his presentation was flawless!

Those "heroes" can suck on his stardust!

And now that he thinks about it...

_That blue twerp stole his crown!_

Not that he really cared about the power, he just... liked wearing it... It was comfy... Gave him a sense of meaning and kept his ears warm... He missed it...

Wrapping the sleeves around his shoulders, he immediately realized that it was beyond too big for him now. He could even use it as a tent and just live in the bloody thing!

Oh well, coverage is coverage.

His progress was made slower now due to the jacket but eventually, he was able to tie it into some sort of toga-dress-cape-poncho-thing. (He was very proud of himself for that as well.)

He climbed over what seemed to the enormous spiked tail of Annihilate and found a gaping hole. It must have been the remains of his factory.

The shapes had to have set it on fire or something because half the metal he could see was melted and parts were missing. Gears were lying around uselessly and the hydraulic system was completely inoperable. They were probably going to use the scrap metal to help with the repairs to the city.

_Good riddance._

He hated it down there and didn't approve of it but for some reason no one particularly cared and it got built anyway. There was no reason to beat the poor shapes before... -Barracuda was going to get an earful when he found him again!

Speaking of...

What happed to the Bosses? The Tracks?

Did they survive?

Blixer sure hoped so because, he swears, if they died, he'd resurrect them just kill them all again.

Sighing, he crossed the hole on a precarious piece of metal which he had no trouble with (being unfortunately small) and continued walking on the other side.

One of Blixer's ears twitched as the birds began chirping their existence. He looked up and for the first time in a week, _the Sun came up_. He stared in wonder as twilight finally broke into dawn. The big wuss had been in hiding while the plan had been carried out, plunging everything into darkness and now...

 _He had missed it more than he thought he would_.

. . . . .

As he continued on his trek in the newfound daylight, he managed to find his smaller guitar covered in dust and surprisingly without too much damage, his notebook wasn't far from it either. He found a bag, some old books and some more clothes also.

But most surprisingly, he found a _fridge_.

Yeah, a fucking _fridge_ that was _**intact**_ for some miraculous reason.

Being a shape that liked to have a laugh every once in a while, Blixer walked over to it and opened the door-

_WHO PUT THE FUCKING BASS CANNONS IN THE BLOODY FRIDGE?!_

He burst out laughing. He recalled asking one of the pink flowers to put them in a cool place because they were hot after he'd used them.

Where better place than the goddamn fridge?

_Those crazy shapes were comedy gold sometimes..._

Other than weaponry, he also found some actual food. There were fruits, meats and for some reason a cake?...

_Oh yeah!... It was..._

_._

_._

_._

_It was supposed to be Sevcon and Art Of War's birthdays a few days after the attack..._

He liked to memorise people's birthdays even if they thought he never bothered. Blixer wasn't that mean, okay?!

...

_God, he hoped they were alright..._

The now grey shape didn't dwell on it for too long though. Tears were another thing he didn't fancy dealing with...

Shoving absolutely everything (minus the cake and including the cannons) into the bag, he shouldered the strap and gave his failure one last look before turning back towards the Mountain.

Back _"home"_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The summary was supposed to be sarcastic, but I think you already knew that...


	4. And Through It All, How Could You Cry For Me? (Because I Don't Feel Bad About It)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to square one and of course the drawing board- Wait who are-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Sleep - MCR

Blixer's cave hadn't been touched since he absorbed that first Treeangle shard. It was just as dark and damp and musty as it was a week ago.

_A week..._

_**Pathetic.** _

The grey shape stopped in the mouth and stared at the palms of his dirty grey hands, his small ears drooping a bit.

He'd held on for 3 _years_ on his previous attempt...

It had felt so great to be himself again and so _**free**_...

And now here he is... back in the cave again, just as useless as ever.

All Blixer had done so far was cause unnecessary pain and suffering to his homeland. As much as he wanted to pummel all those "pure" shapes into the dirt with his foot, it wasn't their fault...

At least, not all of it was...

Small droplets landed on his palms but he barely took any notice. A mirthless huff of a laugh passed his lips and he ventured in.

. . . . .

As Blixer walked in deeper, he found the chains that had kept him bound broken, the metal twisted and mangled. He stopped and stared at them for a long moment.

Anger boiled inside him and he kicked one of the broken shackles. Blixer stared at his arms. The pink scars were still very prominent, they always had been, he just chose to ignore them most of the time.

The memories of burning wrists, endless hunger and suffocating loneliness returned to him. He wiped away more tears. The hope of freedom had been placed right in front of him but literally just out of reach.

The shining towers of the City glimmered in the sun just beyond the hill and he was forced to watch his real home everyday and every night from his prison as the seasons changed like clockwork.

Every day became a year and, for a moment, **_he forgot what freedom felt like..._**

When he got out he thought he'd been trapped in this godforsaken cavern for... 6 -no, maybe 7- winters?

But no... A full decade had passed while he was chained up and helpless, surrounded by darkness and that stupid fucking view.

He swore he'd started seeing things when that blue square and-....... when **the two shapes** found him there.

The only reason he was even bothering to come back was because he had nowhere else to go, nowhere else to call "home".

_**But at least he had the option to leave now.** _

He clenched his fists before walking past into the deeper parts of the hillside he'd never seen before.

The glowing mushrooms that grew in all the caves on the Islands were highly toxic to pink shapes and so he did his best to avoid them. They lit his way with a gentle light and he followed the path.

Moments later it gave way to a wide open cavern with a high ceiling with sunlight pouring in through a hole in the top. Plants and vines hung from the ceiling and there were some birds nesting up there. A small lake filled most of the floor and a small stream trickled into the outside world. The beach was sandy and rocky.

_**It was perfect.** _

This was his new home... He'd have to do something about the mushrooms though-

Blixer heard footsteps coming from the mouth of the cave and he quickly ducked behind a stalagmite. His heart rate quickened and he began shaking. He really wasn't expecting anyone.

_But what would anyone be doing here?_

_Unless someone saw him go in..._

_**Now that would be a problem**. _

He heard the footsteps stop in the entrance to the large cavern.

" _I told you it wouldn't work, Blixer_."

_**Fuck.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot the chapter name... Wow...


	5. You Know, I'll Never Disappear (Now Get Me Out Of Here)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old face, new time, same problems, different people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Mr Fear - SIAMÉS

Blixer flinched and cursed quietly. Of all people, it had to be _her_... He'd rather let the blue hero shatter him than spend even a second in her vicinity.

" _I know you're there, Blixer_."

He just wanted her to get out.

"That's nice, so could you please leave?"

Cube huffed. He got the distinct feeling that she was crossing her arms.

"Stop being such a baby and talk to me face to face-"

"Last time I did that, you announced that your alliance lay with the Tree."

"... And it still does."

" _Why?_ "

"You know why."

"No, I don't, because _you_ were the one who always insisted on bringing them down, _you_ were the one most eager-"

"Yes, but-"

"But _what_ , Cube? _What_ could have changed you so much?"

"...... I'm a pacifist. I don't believe in vio-"

Blixer burst out laughing but it was cold and mildly unsettling. He stood up, leaning on the rock he hid behind. He still had his back turned to her, however.

"Come on! We both know that's not true!"

"Well, it is. I've seen enough violence to last me lifetimes-"

The grey shape whipped his head around to glare at her.

"WELL PACIFISM ISN'T AN EXCUSE! And you know that we were so close to winning that day..."

"... You had to be stopped."

"You _betrayed_ us. You _sold us out_ -"

"Because innocent shapes were going to _**die**_ if I didn't-"

He let out a low chuckle and turned back around.

" **Didn't stop him from kicking the bucket though, did it?**"

Blixer felt something clamp around his middle and yank him backwards. He collided harshly with the floor and a heel pressed down on his ribcage. Cube glared down at him. She was dressed in plain white robes with the Treeangle insignia on the front and had a teal bag at her side.

" **Don't you DARE bring him into this-**"

"Don't you _dare_ call them innocent. They are _guilty_ and you know that-"

"No, they aren't. They don't know any better!"

"Well it should be common sense not to "judge a book by it's cover"!"

"Too bad because you've just solidified the fact that "all pink shapes are _evil_ "."

Blixer's eyes widened.

She... She had a point... 

"That's right. Congratulations, you've just made it worse for yourself."

Cube stepped off of him. Blixer squeezed his eyes shut, he didn't even want to look at her at this point.

"Oh, and just in case you don't remember, _it was your fault they won that day_."

Something inside Blixer snapped. There's a fine but discernible line between bringing up the past and abusing someone with it. He shot up and yanked her backwards, slamming her into the ground. He pulled out and shouldered a bass cannon, aiming it at her head.

He was going to **burn it** into her brain that they didn't die back then because of him.

A foot collided with his face and he felt the world spin. He dropped the weapon and fell to his knees. Cube grabbed the cannon and the mildly concussed shape scrambled out of close range. He stood, chest heaving, at ankle depth in the lake, a few feet away from the blue shape.

"COME AT ME THEN!"

Blixer raised his fists and Cube engaged, throwing the cannon to the side. Close To Me began playing and the scene around them turned black, the water disappearing. He prepared himself for the intro, but it never came. The song had changed tempo with her anger and cut straight to the chorus.

_He wasn't ready for it._

Blixer scrambled away from the blue block she pulled up and the saws as they came down. She changed the order of her attacks and he got smacked in the face by a projectile. He immediately collapsed, water rushing over his face as he "died" and the void disappeared.

Cube just stared at him flailing in the lake, mildly disappointed and very frustrated. The song died and he hauled himself ashore, coughing. Blixer spat out a tooth with some pink blood, a choked sob also leaving his lips.

His memory of _**then** _was so painful. Nothing was ever true and he'd been living a lie, a horrible lie. He shivered as his terrified face popped into his head during his last few moments. Another sob tore though his tightened throat. Blixer hauled himself into a sitting position with his back turned to her, trying to calm himself.

That was the last straw for Cube, however.

She marched over to him, still quite angry.

"I w-was-... I didn't-"

She stood over him with the cannon held loosely in her hand.

"This could all have been over _years ago_ if you had just fired like we told you to! You have _no right_ to be angry at me for betraying you when _you cost us **everything**_ -"

" _I'M SORRY!!_ I-I'M SORRY!... Please... _stop_... I-I wasn't-..."

Blixer turned to her, tears pouring down his cheeks, full of shame, grief and sadness. The birds finally got spooked and made a ruckus as they flew off. Cube seemed to flinch at that. He saw her hands shaking out of the corner of his eye as he turned back to stare at the water. She covered her mouth in shock.

"...O-Oh Tree... Blixer, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean it-"

"Y-Yes, you did. Y-You wouldn't s-say it otherwise... B-Besides, it's true."

She reached out for him in earnest.

"Blix, no I-"

Blixer smacked her hand away and glared up at her. He wiped his eyes and turned away, speaking quietly.

" **Do not touch me.** "

Cube huffed again but in a different kind of frustration this time. Blixer stared down at the floor, sniffling. He rubbed his nose and curled into a ball.

Some folded plain white clothes dropped were onto his lap. He stared at them in resignation.

"I wish we could have talked under better circumstances. I'm sorry, Brother."

He sneered at her through the tears as he stood up.

" _I'm not your "Brother"_ , I never was, and especially not if you're just going to just turn me in like that."

He heard Cube take a step back from his hunched form. The two stayed in relative silence, the only sounds coming from the birds and occasional mumbles from Blixer as he pulled on the standard prison uniform. Once he was done, he grabbed his things. He wouldn't really need them but he wanted to keep them with him.

The blue shape stayed by his side as they walked out of the cave. She kept the barrel of the bass cannon pressed to his back as they headed towards the City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might rewrite this chapter at some point. It sucks ass.


	6. Have I Overrun My Time? (Or Is My Number Up?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sentenced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Far Beyond - Dexter French

Blixer had his face pressed up against the glass of the window as the car took him into the Central District of the City.

Cube had said nothing since their painful little reunion back in the cave. He liked it better that way. He didn't know if he could listen to her voice anymore without emotionally vomiting.

He looked up at the towering glass skyscrapers and tried to ignore the shapes glaring at the vehicle as they passed.

He hadn't been to the Central District in... What? _Maybe 13 or 14 years...?_

He didn't really keep track of time anymore... Unless he had nothing else better to do.

A lot of things were different. Even more so from the damages he'd caused during his weeklong reign.

Speaking of, he recognized a few of the now purified flowers milling about. They seemed shaken, traumatized. He couldn't blame them. What he did must never be repeated and he deserved whatever he got...

**_Honestly, he's become just as bad as-_ **

A number of the flowers he knew stared down the car with a number of emotions he couldn't describe. He couldn't blame them. Blixer thought he was a fair employer/king, the only thing he did wrong was "corrupt" everything, which, admittedly, was morally corrupt in of itself, but he didn't want to do it.

_He did it out of necessity... Right?_

_Yes. That genocidal parasite has to go..._

_But at what cost?_

Blixer sighed heavily and went back to staring at the higher buildings.

. . . . .

The Sun was at it's peak when he was taken into the prison under tight security. Cube had, once again, abandoned him to do whatever task the Tree gave her. He didn't really care. As long as he didn't have so look at her stupid face.

Blixer would never say this out loud but the building and all the shapes in it were very intimidating, slightly creepy, even with the sunlight pouring in through the barred windows. It didn't help that everyone was a good head and shoulders taller than him (his grey form was extremely and unfortunately short, as well as weak).

He was taken through the arduous hallways and into a dark room... One which reeked of the acrid odour of burnt flesh. The urge to hurl the contents of his stomach reared its head once more.

Blixer knew what was coming.

He, with a moment to gather himself, took off his vest without being told to and leaned against the table provided. A larger shape entered the darkness and slowly made his way towards him. He stared straight ahead blankly.

The cold cyan glow of "pure" blue energy illuminated the space a little, allowing him to see the claw marks on the surface of the desk from prisoners before him. He sucked in a sharp breath.

"... You sure have experience with this..."

Blixer said nothing in return.

_What was there to say?_

His ear twitched mildly as he heard the large shape shuffling behind him before the room was made much clearer.

 **He didn't scream as he received the brand**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do recommend you listen to these songs.


	7. So You're The Tough Guy? (Like It Really Rough Guy?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Bad Guy - Billie Eilish

_Prisoner 1265_

_That was him._

_That was his new name, new identity._

They'd treated the wound afterwards but Blixer wouldn't be surprised if it got infected anyway. His right shoulder was wrapped with little care and screeched at him whenever he moved the tiniest fraction. The grey shape refrained from pulling on his vest, even if the chill of the building would probably do him more harm than his burns would.

All of Fresh's possessions had been confiscated upon his arrival, but after much convincing, they let him keep his notebook and his guitar.

_How very generous of them._

The guards didn't think he noticed but the flower could feel their scrutinizing eyes searing his skin. Thinking wisely, he kept his head held down and his cuffed hands clasped together in front of him.

Static flooded his ears, filling his head with numbing white noise. He didn't even notice that he'd gotten to his cell until one of the guards shoved him forward. Pain exploded out from his shoulder and he hissed ~~not unlike a cat~~ defensively.

The room was essentially a plain white box with a bed. There was a sliver of light coming through a hole the ceiling and holes at the top and bottom of the door.

But that was pretty much it.

The heavy door slammed behind him and the room darkened considerably. The metallic clunks of multiple locks activating was the last he heard of the outside world. He took a deep breath...

_Gods, the air was so stale in there..._

Blixer coughed softly and sat down carefully on the bed, hovering his hand over his shoulder, the sting had not yet subsided.

Slipping the standard white boots off, he crossed his legs and picked up his guitar. He double checked that it was in tune, plucking each string and judging the sound, before playing a softened version of the Final Boss melody. He was wary of his shoulder, making sure to keep it still as he strummed.

The lulling tune echoed around the room and spilled out into the hall outside. Blixer closed his black and pink eyes, his mind drifting.

_What he did was unspeakable._

_Period._

_There were no excuses and he knew that._

_He was just trying to make himself feel better about it... About himself._

_Being the bad guy was never his intention and yet he carved a tyrant out of himself._

_Sad. How sad._

_He knows that there were no casualties during his reign, other that possibility his closest associates..._

_But they didn't deserve to be punished for his dumb decision._

_For his horrible mistake..._

_Barracuda better be alive, and that other shape too..._

_**And so, history repeats itself**._

He abruptly stopped playing at the final thought.

History was repeating itself. He was making the same mistakes over and over again.

Cube was right.

_This all could have been over years ago-_

"Y'know, for a raging, power hungry maniac, you play pretty well..."

Blixer jumped at the new presence in the room. His eyes flew open but promptly began squinting as the constant glow the "heroes" emitted half-blinded him. Fresh blinked a few times, earning an eyeroll from the square. He sneered.

"Why are _you_ here?"

Blue sat down in front of him, the other three leaning against the wall or doing the same.

"To talk."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...About what exactly? Silence doesn't help me understand what you're trying to convey-"

" _You know **exactly** what we want to talk about!_"

Blixer's eyes immediately jumped to the green one standing in the corner.

Their tone was frustrated and accusatory. If they had a proper face, they would definitely be glaring. His ears immediately drooped, falling flat against his head.

_The-... T-The-..._

_Oh f-fuck... Please_ _no..._

_No, don't do this to me..._

"... Hey, are you...?"

Blixer sighed heavily. His throat tightened and anger coursed through him. His right hand was clenched around the neck of his instrument, his form shivering.

"Yeah..."

There was a tense beat of-

"So... Why did you do it?"

The yellow triangle wasted no time getting to the point, much like another triangular shape he knew.

_This was all so fucked up._

The grey shape shakily rested the instrument against the vacant wall.

"I-... The-... It's a really long-"

"We can wait. We can wait _all_ day."

The blue hero shrugged nonchalantly, drawling out his words. Blixer's left eye twitched.

"But it's not that simple-"

" _We can always have a rematch?_ "

Blixer blinked at the orange one who shut up again immediately afterwards. He dragged a worn hand across his face.

"... _Please_ don't make m-"

The yellow triangle held up their hand, interrupting the elder.

"We do not care. Spill."

"Or else!"

". . ."

They all looked at him expectantly as he tried to put his scattered memories together... He'd been working on forgetting most of it...

"...I'm going to have to start a really long time ago..."

A few "eyebrows" raised.

"...Okay then-"

" _But I need you to promise me something first._ "

There were varying degrees of unease at his change of tone.

"What?"

**"** _You_ ** _need_** _to keep this from the Tree._ "


	8. Yelling Out Into The Sun (Here We Come, Here We Come)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Frame Of Mind - Tristam and Braken

_To feel a rhythm pulsing through one's veins, the vibrations of a strong bassline tearing through nerves and a melody drowning one's senses is the best, most invigorating feeling this world can offer._

_The clash of two vicious assailants under a powerful song was a awe inspiring sight to behold and an unforgettable, beautiful feeling._

_The intricate patterns of energy weaved into attacks and defenses, perfectly tuned down to the slightest second with the music, were a reflection of an emotion, an emotion felt differently within everyone._

An expression.

 _But only some are lucky enough to be blessed with the ability to feel the rhythm of living melodies._ _Most can only listen and resonate with sound from a distance, but few can become the sound._

_Sharp unexpected movements mirroring that of the notes, attacks as powerful as the bass and melody they drew upon, motions as fluid as a sliding scale. Weapons and artists, destroyers and creators._

_An entity, rested in a sacred glade, was thought to be the source of that power and the theory was quickly proven true. It had been dubbed "The Treeangle" by its loyal subjects and all those who feared it._

_The being has since then been given praises and offerings in exchange for the use of its power._

_Over time, as technology advanced and studies bore innovations and fruits of valuable knowledge, those without the gift were able to harness the same energy and bend it to their own desires using devices made from special alloys. It allowed weapons such as Bass Cannons to become the weapon of choice when threatened by the **Mountain Dwellers**._

A new age had dawned.

_The Islands built a huge city around the Treeangle that ran on this endless sonorous power as well as other instruments, equipment and machines._

_History had begun a new chapter..._

_But remnants of an old and long forgotten one still remained..._

_And all evidence of its existence shall be **purged.**_

. . . . .

[Hot Pursuit - Tut Tut Child / Time Remaining: 1 minute 10 seconds]

_"Pyran! To me!"_

_"UP! UP!"_   
  
_"I'm not a dog!"_   
  
_"Not now, Seph!"_   
  
_"Shut up and MOVE-"_   
  
_"ACK!-"_   
  
_"Pentako! On your left!"_   
  
_"OW! Got it..."_   
  
_"Get out of the way!!"_

_"Quadralupe-"_   
  
_"On it Py!"_   
  
_"Spherion! Stop messing around!"_   
  
_"It's not my- SHIT!"_   
  
_"IT'S THE FINAL DROP!"_   
  
_"AGH!"_   
  
_"PYRAN! MOVE!"_   
  
_"TREE, HAVE MERCY!"_   
  
_"Why us!"_   
  
_"MIND THE LASER! MIND THE LASER! MIND THE BLOODY LASER- OH FUCK!!"_   
  
_"SEPH WOULD YOU PLEASE-!"_   
  
_"I AM TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY, ASSHOLE!!"_   
  
_"LOOK OUT FOR THE-"_   
  
_"AAAH!!"_   
  
_"WATCH THE SPINES-"_   
  
_"COULD'A SAID THAT EARLIER!"_

_"LUPE, SEPH, PY, TO ME!"_   
  
_"SIR, YES SIR!"_

_"COMING!"_   
  
_"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! ON MY WAY-"  
  
"Oh, Tree..."_   
  
_"PATTERN'S CHANGED!"_

_"I NOTICED!"_   
  
_"PENTAKO, LOOK OUT!"_   
  
_"AAAGH!!"_   
  
_"NO!! PENTA!!"_   
  
_"SOMEONE REVIVE HIM!!"_   
  
_"I'M ON IT!"_   
  
_"SPHERION NO!! YOU WON'T MAKE IT!!"_   
  
_"THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN, YOU WON'T GET IT THROUGH THE GAP IN TIME!!"_   
  
_"WATCH ME!!"_   
  
_"SEPH, COME BACK!! SEPH!!"_

_"Welp, he's dead."_   
  
_"Don't say tha-"_   
  
_"WATCH THE PROJECTILE!!"_   
  
_"OH SHI-"_   
  
_"PENTAKO IS BACK IN BUSINESS, BABY, COURTESY OF YOURS TRULY! YOU'RE WELCOME!"_   
  
_"SEPH, GET YOUR HEAD BACK IN THE GAME!"_   
  
_"COME ON! I SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?!"_   
  
_"FOCUS, PLEASE!"_   
  
_"PYRAN, 8 O'CLOCK!!"_   
  
_"DAMN! THANKS!"_   
  
_"EVERYBODY DOWN!"_   
  
_"WOOAH!"_   
  
_"OOOF!!"_

_"LUPE!!"_  
  
 _"I'M OKAY!!"_  
  
 _"PYRAN! OVER HERE!"_  
  
 _"FUCK!"_  
  
 _"NO!! PYRAN!!"_  
  
 _"SHIT!"  
  
_ _"WE'VE LOST PYRAN!!"_  
  
 _"TREE, GIVE ME STRENGTH!!"_  
  
 _"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"  
  
  
_

> [Training level 543]  
>   
> 
> 
> Pentako - Rank: B
> 
> Pyran - Rank: B  
>   
> Quadralupe - Rank: A
> 
> Spherion - Rank: S
> 
> [Status: FAILED]

_"Oh, come on... That one was... That one was hard!... Ah!... Tree, I'm out of breath..."  
  
The yellow shape staggered away from the center of the room where the computer hologram displayed their stats, panting heavily in a crouched position. The other three were in a similar state. _

_Spherion stared at the display and a massive grin spread across his face. He stood up properly, rolling his shoulders and flexing his prominent muscles before turning to talk to a rather annoyed cube._

_"What was that you said to me before? ...About how you'd "_ definitely beat me in training the next day _", Lupe?"  
  
He moved to poke her arm and she swatted him away as he laughed. She allowed a small smile to cross her lips before flopping onto the white tiled floor, lifting her arm up to give her Brother the finger.  
  
_ _"Fuck you too, Seph... Just fuck you too... Oh Tree, pink hurts..."_

_He prodded her with his foot and she shot out to grab him. Spherion evaded her and took refuge by joining Pyran at the side of the room.  
  
"Seph, how do you do it?... You're constantly messing around and yet..."_

_The sphere chuckled._

_"I'm much more focused than you think... I just like to live a little."  
  
Pyran raised his hand.  
  
"One day, I am going to kill you and take great pleasure in doing so."  
  
Seph gave him the high five and clapped a hand onto the small of his back.  
  
"I'd like to see you try."  
  
The orange shape shoved him playfully, the two laughing. Lupe smacked the back of Spherion's head after recuperating, causing him to go after her. They chased each other around like kids as Pentako watched them all fondly. The pentagon wrapped his arm around Pyran's shoulders as the other two _grown adults _chased each other out of the training room, laughing, leaving them to follow at their own pace. The two boys chuckled to one another. The green shape spoke first.  
  
_ _"We'll get the level next time... I'm sure of it!"  
_

_A familiar voice piped up behind them, scaring the daylights out of the other two._

_"Whatever you say, oh gracious Leader."_   
  
_Pyran punched his arm lightly._

_"Seph, you ass! You know I hate it when you do that!"_


	9. What Is The Point Of Doing Nothing At All (Watching It Fall)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Normalcy is quite hard to come by if you've felt it but never lived in it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Swan Song - Dua Lipa

_Spherion strode through the City Heart, briskly making his way south to the shuttle station._

_The Heart was a cluster of the oldest buildings and streets in the City that encircled the Treeangle that spiraled out into, and was sheltered by, the Central District. T_ _here were many ancient trees growing along the streets, showering the smooth paving with delicate blue and white blossoms as the wind passed through their tired branches. However, a few of which have never bloomed once in history, their reaching arms bare to the breeze._

_Most houses were mansions and any other building was a bank, cathedral or court. It was a luxurious region only the rich and/or powerful dominated, with the Treeangle being in such close proximity._ _All the shapes in the area recognized the sphere, even though he was out of his usual uniform and cape._

_He was a very famous face, after all._

Kind of ironic, though, because he didn't actually have one.

_How he, his brethren and quite a few other shapes spoke, saw, smelt and ate were all mysteries no one bothered to solve, chalking it up to the Treeangle's endless power. (Seph thought it was energy related.)_

_The shapes bowed to him respectfully, to which he of course bowed back, and made his way out into the main city. It was lovely in the Heart, but... Let's just say, he didn't really belong there and everyone knew it. He swiped in at the terminal gate as he reached the Heart Shuttle Station._

_He could have taken a private car but he liked to be a normal person and not some godlike savior all the time. To be totally honest, he shouldn't be doing this at all, the Officials would give him a long, hard, painful lecture about being a "proper face of the Islands" should they catch him._

Once again, the irony strikes.

_Spherion took a seat in the moderately empty carriage, pulling out his phone from his white jacket. He knew that quite a few shapes were staring at him but he'd gotten used to that sort of thing by now. The melodic energy that flowed through the lights hummed a sweet sound as they bathed the space in cold white. The shuttle's engine started up again and began moving, the acceleration causing the energy to resonated an upward scale before settling on a note._

_An... E?... No, D... Yeah, a D._

_He texted Pentako saying that he was going out for a bit. The green shape was the only one who knew about his early morning escapades to the Central, Ocean or Volcano Districts after he caught him wearing casual clothes when he should have been in uniform. Seph shouldn't even own casual clothes. The sphere didn't like going to the Marsh District, however, especially not after the unnerving and humiliating encounter with another powerful shape.  
_

_Seph scrolled through his account on_ **SH4RD** _, chuckling at what kinds of exciting lives the shapes under his care were living. He used his account as a disguise to talk to and socialize with other shapes his age without them giving him praises and practically worshiping him.  
  
_ Ew. _  
  
He clicked on the group chat he shared with 6 of his online friends.  
  
_ Huh, he didn't expect anyone to be online.

 **start_a_riot_093** _and_ **OverTheWallWeGo** _were both chatting about a video game they played on the weekends with each other. Spherion was always annoyed that he couldn't play games like that because he was training and studying. The only time he had a break was just after early morning training when they were supposed to be studying in the library, reading and whatnot and he used that time to go into the main city for awhile.  
  
_

[ **start_a_riot_093,** OverTheWallWeGo, ~~boombox226~~ (Seph)]

{6:25 AM}

> **start_a_riot_093** : I used to like just using the _Smash Rush_ ability but then I realized how little it does to bosses like _Gorfuego_
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: seriously
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : yeah it sucks  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : Hey guys  
>   
> OverTheWallWeGo: what are you doing up mr uncultured
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : sup  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : I was at the gym

_Sort of true, actually_

> **start_a_riot_093** : really dude
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: wait so are you like super ripped or something  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : Not super ripped but I'd say I was somewhat muscular...  
>   
> OverTheWallWeGo: how many shapes can you lift
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : dude no thats weird  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : uh
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : see look you broke him  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : About... 3 and a half maybe?

_That's a fat lie, using his larger set of arms he could lift a house filled with 20 shapes and just using his bare hands he could lift at least 10 people. It has to be a Hero thing so Seph blames it on the Treeangle._

> OverTheWallWeGo: you have to be super fucking ripped you modwst son of a bitch
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: modest*
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : thats cool  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : Thanks and I'm really not!  
>   
> thosestupidbirds: good morning fuckers  
>   
> OverTheWallWeGo: morning asshole
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : hello satan  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : Hi  
>   
> thosestupidbirds: I see that the innocent child isn't so innocent
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : What made you think I was innocent?  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : We're the same age and you swear more than my brother which says a lot of things
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : dude.
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: dude.
> 
> thosestupidbirds: dude.
> 
> thosestupidbirds: you didnt even know what alcohol looked like

_What does that have to do with anything?_

> ~~boombox226~~ : So?
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : youre 18 you should definitely know by now
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : its like something we're taught in school
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : I know what it is! I've read about it! I've just never seen it...
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: YOU READ?! Like ACTUAL BOOKS?  
>   
> thosestupidbirds: tree almighty you sweet boy  
>   
>  **start_a_riot_093** : what kind of a world do you live in  
>   
> thosestupidbirds: one where alcohol doesn't exist definitely

_Seph felt slightly offended but what was too be expected when he was so cut off from normal life? He sighed, rubbing his "face"._

> ~~boombox226~~ : Guys, stop. Books are important.
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : Without them you'd be even more primitive than you already are.
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : oof
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: lmao  
>   
> thosestupidbirds: thats surprisingly true
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: HEY!  
>   
>  **start_a_riot_093** : ouch
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : that hurts
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: (T-T)  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : haha
> 
> thosestupidbirds: you evil child
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : I told you, I'm not that innocent

_Spherion turned off his phone when a voice chimed above him for the Central District main terminal. He wanted to get some air and some breakfast this morning. The Ocean District would be a good place to go. He stepped off the shuttle and joined the crowd._

_He found that in places other than the Heart, nobody recognized him out of costume and even less when he suppressed the natural orange glow he had around his form. It was very convenient when he went out. He quickly hopped on the transport heading to his new destination.  
  
Seph's phone buzzed softly in his pocket. Pulling it out he saw he had another message.  
  
  
_

{6:58}

> **start_a_riot_093** : hey we should all meet up sometime

_What?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so tired (-.-)


	10. Do What You Want ('Cause You Only Live Once)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Head Bop - Tru Fonix

{6:58}

> **start_a_riot_093** : hey we should all meet up sometime
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: yeah that would be awesome
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: we've already met up separately so why not
> 
> thosestupidbirds: look at you go taking the initiative like that
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : shut up!
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : Im not a pushover!
> 
> thosestupidbirds: but we still dont know what mr not-so-innocent looks like
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: hes ripped tho
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : Just because I'm ripped, doesn't mean you know what I look like.  
>   
>  **start_a_riot_093** : kinda does tho
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : That aside, I can't.  
>   
> thosestupidbirds: why not
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : his parents remember
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: I still cant believe you still live with those assholes
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: your siblings too
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : I already break the rules enough by going out during study hours  
>   
>  **start_a_riot_093** : wait what
> 
> thosestupidbirds: do they know?  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : no
> 
> thosestupidbirds: are you out now?  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : yes

_Seph wasn't sure if he was ok with where this was going._

> thosestupidbirds: then let's do it
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : without **@** **Zamdam** , **@** **BLUEKINGSEVEN** and **@** **MasterfulKraine**?
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: DUDE ARE YOU TRYING TO DIE??!!!
> 
> thosestupidbirds: why did you ping all of them??!  
>   
>  **start_a_riot_093** : convenience
> 
> thosestupidbirds: fuck convenience!!
> 
> **Zamdam** : who the fuck pinged me?!
> 
> **Zamdam** : I'm going to kill so-
> 
> **Zamdam:** oh its just you  
>   
> thosestupidbirds: surprising isn't it  
>   
>  **start_a_riot_093** : its really not!!  
>   
>  **Zamdam:** bruh.
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : Welcome to the club, buddy
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : (T-T)  
>   
> BLUEKINGSEVEN: I've been trying to ignore the chat but I cannot any longer  
>   
> BLUEKINGSEVEN: I HAVE ARISEN FROM MY SILENCE AND I SHALL BLESS THEE WITH MY PRESENCE AT YOUR GATHERING
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: INDEED
> 
> thosestupidbirds: dorks
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: asshole
> 
> ~~MasterfulKraine~~ : Morning g-
> 
> ~~MasterfulKraine~~ : wtf
> 
> **Zamdam** : looks like we have a full house
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : so where are you going Boombox?

_Spherion didn't know if he should do this... but screw it._

> ~~boombox226~~ : Ocean District. I'm going to the beach to get some air.
> 
> BLUEKINGSEVEN: cool!
> 
> thosestupidbirds: you sound like double your age
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: something happen?
> 
> ~~boombox226~~ : No, I just want to get away
> 
> thosestupidbirds: oof
> 
> ~~MasterfulKraine~~ : did any of you consider if any of us could go?
> 
> thosestupidbirds: oh shit
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : who can go?
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : I can
> 
> OverTheWallWeGo: I need to get out of the house
> 
> **Zamdam** : Got nothing better to do
> 
> ~~MasterfulKraine~~ : guess i can
> 
> thosestupidbirds: me too
> 
> BLUEKINGSEVEN: I already said yes
> 
> **start_a_riot_093** : then lets do it!  
>   
>  ~~boombox226~~ : Ok

This is fine.

_. . . . ._

_The_ _group unanimously decided to meet at the Merchant's Sail, a small family-owned cafe by the sea. Seph didn't go straight there, however. He went up to the cliff and sat on the blue-green grass for a while. It was beautiful. The sky, a kaleidoscope of colours, lazy pinks and gentle oranges. the ocean calm enough to recreate a mirror. The little boats out to sea seemed as though floating in an endless sky._

_It felt like a dream..._

_Like..._

**Home.**

_He could stay in this spot, this moment forever, just looking out over the ocean. Seph wondered if there was anything beyond the Islands. The history books tell of many ships that had vanished beyond the horizon and never come back. Curious._

_Spherion stood up after a moment or two and went down into the City. The shops were all just opening and not very many people were around. Most in the area start their day after 8, which is when he needed to be back with his siblings, giving the the seaside suburb an desolate and eerie yet nostalgic feeling. Seph stepped inside the large cafe. It was filled with knick-knacks and ornaments from boats or the sea. There were a few fish tanks and paintings around._

_It was quaint._

_The sphere spotted 6 shapes at a circular table, chatting amongst themselves quite loudly.  
  
_ That must be them. Definitely looks like them. _  
  
He slowly wandered over and took the 7th seat with a small wave.  
  
"Hi gu-"  
  
"Dude, no way!"  
  
Seph would be lying if he didn't start sweating.  
  
_This was a reallly bad idea  
  
He shouldn't have come- _  
  
"Is that a white rihyo diamond??!"  
  
He looked up to see a green circle gawking at him. He recognized them as **MasterfulKraine** from their profile picture. He sighed in relief, thankful they they didn't realize who he was.  
  
"Wait, really-" _

_**BLUEKINGSEVEN** , a small blue flower wearing a fandom-based t-shirt and plain shorts._

_"You have got to be kidding me..."_

_**start_a_riot_093** , a tall yellow square with glasses_

_**"** Of course, he's loaded too-" _

_**OverTheWallWeGo** , an excitable green triangle_

_"This man has everything!"_

_**Zamdam** , a grey cube wearing a sensible choice of clothing_

_"Nothing is a surprise at this point."_

_**thosestupidbirds** , a bored-looking yellow flower wearing mostly black, and my, was she wrong._

_Seph looked down at the pendant on his chest.  
  
Oh, right! Yeah.  
  
"Yeah, it is. Do you want to take a look?"  
  
"HELL YEAH! Those things are worth tens of thousands of Beatpoints! And you just have it hanging around your bloody neck... Don't tell me, you're **boombox** , aren't you?"  
  
Spherion nodded to the triangle and pulled off the piece of _ _jewelry, handing it over.  
  
"I thought that was obvious."_

_"It is, really..."_

_**thosestupidbirds** sipped her coffee as the green shape glared at her. The group each took turns to take a look at and comment about the rare crystal before handing it back to Seph. He'd always had the pendant. He didn't know who gave it to him or where it came from, it was just there. _

_When he asked about it, the Officials gave him a really ambiguous and lengthy explanation which made no sense. But despite that, it somehow had some sentimental value... like it had belonged to someone he trusted. He'd never part with it._

_**OverTheWall** went to say something when **BLUEKING** cut him off._

_"Now that we are all adjourned, I just wanted to say, as ruler of this group, I-"  
  
"Who made you ruler, short stack?"  
  
" **Birds**!! Do not insult your Lord's height! I am older than you!"  
  
"I find that very hard to believe..."_

_"Shut up!! I am 19!!"_

_"Oh, I thought you were 10-"_

_**Zamdam** sighed_

_"Guys, lets not figh-"  
_

_"BRING IT ON!"_

_Seph groaned with a half smile._

These guys were absolute idiots.

_While **Birds** had fun antagonizing the shorter flower, the rest of the group decided to have their own conversation. They asked each other about their lives, questions that he lied about or dodged. They got breakfast together and ate in peace once the two bickering shapes stopped fighting, talking about Seph's wealth and how **start_a_riot_093** got an internship at one of the biggest companies in the Islands. But the topic got steered away from that.  
_

_"So Boombox..."  
  
Spherion looked over at **start_a_riot.**_

_"Do you have a job internship?"_  
  
 _He thought for a moment._  
  
 _"No, but I've been working in a family business for as long as I can remember."_  
  
 _"Oh cool! What do you do?" _  
  
__Shit _ _  
  
_"Uh, I...-"_  
  
 _Something tickled the back of Spherion's mind._

_Odd._

_Everything was in perfect order, nothing should-_

_The whole building began shaking. Violently. Items fell off the shelves, everyone's drinks spilled over the table and food bounced off plates.The group looked around, puzzled and a little scared. But Seph felt no fear, he was more confused than anything else. The fish in the tanks ducked into their little homes and the cafe employees started dashed under tables and such._

_As quickly as it started, it stopped._   
  
_"What the..."_   
  
_"What was that?"_

_"Earthquake maybe...?"_   
  
_"We shouldn't be able to feel an earthquake... the shock absorbers under all the buildings sort that out..."_   
  
_Seph got up from his seat, a hardened expression on his face._   
  
_"That was no earthquake..."_

_The others looked at him strangely. He jogged outside and saw smoke rising up from the far east of the Island... from the Mountain. Spherion paled rapidly, knowing full well what this meant. His phone went off and he saw it was a text from Pentako. He looked at the time too, while he was at it ._

> {7:54} [ **we need you back here now.** ]

No shit...


	11. But You Always Leave, And Again I'm Alone (This Secret Burns But I'm Imprisoned)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Hostage - Sia

. . . . .

"Alright, time's up! You'll have to come back tomorrow!"  
  
Blixer glared at the guard, who didn't care in the slightest, and sighed.  
  
" _Oh, come on!_ He was just getting to the good bit!"

_Wow..._

_They actually sounded like they wanted to see him again..._

The triangular hero whined as the cell door opened. The 4 "heroes" stood up, dusting their uniforms off. Blixer stared up at the square as he turned to leave. As he was leaving, he grabbed his arm and spoke quietly.

" _Do **not** tell the Tree. I'm **serious.**_ "

The hero's expression hadn't softened much from when he walked in.  
  
" _I won't_."  
  
The grey shape hugged himself tightly as they left, keeping his shoulder still. He couldn't be sure that they would honour their promise so he'd make sure to leave out a few details.

The guards stormed in, rudely interrupting his brooding, and cuffed him once more. They dragged him up from his bed and shoved him along the corridor. The floor was icy without his boots, but being in a cave for a decade made it feel warm. For no reason, he looked back at his cell to see the green hero staring at his retreating form with a weird expression.

_God, he wanted to cry..._

_. . . . ._

The jailers repetitively pushed him forwards, forcing him to keep moving faster. Blixer ached to summon his larger clawed set of arms and bash their faces in but he couldn't because of his lack of energy to work with.

_Why don't they try walking alongside tall ass fuckers with short ass legs?!_

_Gods he hated his short ass legs..._

They finally threw him into a large room which was unfortunately not empty. Many other prisoners were getting food and taking their seats. His body made a dull thud as it hit the floor but the slam of the doors behind him was enough to gain attention.

Silence spread through the space like wildfire as all the occupants turned to look at his pathetic sprawled form. He groaned in pain as his shoulder touched the floor.

This must be the canteen...

Many of the inmates glared at him or stared at him with disgust. He paid them no mind however.

Blixer slowly picked himself off the floor and whispers reigned over the previously quiet room. He grunted softly as his brand throbbed. He tentatively walked forwards only to be stopped by a shape twice his size. They blocked his path, two of his little buddies blocked his exits too. He kept his head held down.

"I don't want to cause trouble. Let me through."  
  
A large hand grabbed one of the spheres floating between his spikes and his ears and **pulled**. Blixer let out a bloody scream of pain as his body was ripped upwards with it. He thrashed furiously and writhed in pain, but the inmate just held him at arm's length, grinning as he cried out in sheer agony. A few of the inmates began laughing and throwing food at the spectacle.

"I were expectin' somethin' more... masculine... no' dis... fuckin'... I don' even know wha' ya are! Some sor'a pixie?!"  
  
The small flower hissed at him and settled for hanging onto the prisoner's hand.

"We was all expectin' da King a' Corruption, no' a fuckin' fingernail!"

_People called actually called him that?_

The inmate slammed his body onto the ground and pressed his foot down on the orb he was holding before. The grey flower gave a sharp gasp and gripped the ankle of said foot.

"You someho' pu' us phrough a week a' hell, so why don' we go an eye fo' a eye. Soun' raisonable?"

_Blixer knew he shouldn't have, he really knew he shouldn't have._

"You... mean "reasonable"?"

That pissed him off.

_Whoops_

"You li'l-"

The prisoner's boot pressed down hard and Blixer wailed loudly, tears steaming from his eyes. He slowly lifted his head, sobbing and glared up at the guy who had started laughing with the rest of the room at this point. Blixer decided to use his last resort. He was sure he was going to regret it later though.

.

.

.

" ** _FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!_** "

Blixer pushed his sharpened teeth deeper into the blue octagon's ankle, forcing him to release the sphere under his boot, which quickly returned to his head. Blood spurted out all over his face, painting blue splatters across his ash coloured skin. Oops, looks like he hit an artery. Possibly more than one.

The grey shape scrambled backwards as the other guys rushed to help their boss. He stood up with a smirk, showing off his fangs covered in cyan fluid. He made a show of licking it off with his tongue ~~(which was fucking gross due to that bastard's blood tasting like burnt birdshit)~~. He chuckled, wearing a sharp grin.

"Well... It's not the first time I've tasted a 'pure' shape."

_That... sounded better in his head._

Thinking back to New Game, Blixer didn't mean to swallow the twerp. He was just ingesting the energy he needed to start putting the plan into motion. They tasted like ass and got stuck in the back of his head, restricting his breathing and wriggling themself into a wedged position.

It took him an embarrassingly long time to cough him back up again and he tried to tell him to stop fucking moving so he could spit him out easily but his vocal chords were blocked. He was debating on chewing but he did not want that little shit leaving a taste inside him. 

_The perks of being really fucking big, everybody!_

He bets his left hand that it was a mutually gross experience.

Their audience looked at him in horror, whispering loudly. Blixer cleaned up his act a little, leaving the tears and the blood on his face. He strode forward confidently, keeping his head held high. He stretched as he stopped in front of the larger shapes, pretending that he couldn't feel his own pink blood dripping down his shoulder blade.

_Play it cool, Blix._

"Right then! Why don't I reintroduce myself?"

He shot forward and stomped on his crotch, gripping a side of his head before yanking it towards him. Blixer would pay to see the expression this fucker wore and he couldn't stop the laugh that spilled out of him. The prisoner's face was scrunched up like a prune and he was staring at the smaller in...

Was that _fear_?

"Hi, I'm the guy that fucked up the Islands but I'm also the guy with sharp teeth. _Cross me again and I will bite you again, understand_?"

The guy nodded and Blixer let him go... but not without driving his heal into this bastard's groin a second time.

He gleefully ignored the howl of pain as he went off to get some food with a skip in his step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for all the swearing in this chapter


	12. Everything Is Show And Tell (And Things Are Played Off Somewhat Well)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Official first day in prison!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: The Chattering Lack Of Common Sense - Gumi Eng. and Yohioloid

Blixer sat in the corner of the room, stuffing his face with the overcooked mashed vegetables and tough sticks of meat. After what he did to that octagon, he got taken back to his cell and had to eat in there. He preferred that actually, he didn't need people judging his every move. The head guard said he'd be punished in the morning ~~and was looking forward to it~~. He didn't care. 

The small shape felt as though he hadn't eaten in quite a long time and hunger was now catching up to him. He must have been unconscious for a day, maybe, before he woke up with Annihilate next to him. He also wanted to get rid of the birdshit taste in his mouth from that guy's gross ass blood. He swore he could also taste feet on the roof of his mouth.

_Ew._

The small flower finished the meal quite quickly and sipped slowly the stale water, staring at the floor as he did so. His mind drifted, sifting through and organizing memories, dwelling on different events that he couldn't seem to understand.

It brought him back to earlier that day...

_Cube..._

_What went on inside her 6-sided head?_

Her dropping bombs on him left, right and center, peeved him to no end. He never knew what she might throw at him next: what other emotional roller-coasters she was going to strap him into in her theme park of misdirection and false hope.

She was far more than just a cube, she was a fucking Rubik's Cube. You think you've got her all figured out but there's always one thing you don't know, one thing out of place. It forces you to start over. And when you think you're there, you know all there is to know, you've only got one side of the story and there are **many more to go**.

_It's **infuriating!**_

If only he could just pull her apart and reassemble the pieces into the correct configuration... but she's made of hard **plastic** , as fake as her fucking "cat ears". The artificial, formulated bright colours on her exterior seem fun until you realize what the real game is. She is as stubborn as the limits of "stubborn" reach and the most petty, competitive, lying cheat he has ever met.

_That is Cube._

_**And that is what he knew.** _

He sighed in irritation and scratched the raw area around his brand. Blixer hissed softly and pulled back his blood tipped fingers. He lifted his wrist to stare at the thick deep scar.

He was back in the same position as he was a week ago. Just, people exist now and it's so much better in an actual prison.

_Why...?_

_Why does it **always** have to end this way?_

Blixer set the half empty cup down beside him and kicked the tray towards the door where someone would collect it later. It skidded smoothly across the pasty floor and hit the sliding panel at the bottom with a clatter. The silence seemed to thicken as it stopped its motion. He huffed and leaned back against the wall, eyes drooping gently.

The grey flower shuffled into a ball and stayed like that for awhile...

~~_Cube, why did you leave us?_ ~~

~~_Leave **ME** **?**_ ~~

...

..

.

. . . . .

"RISE AND SHINE, SLEEPYHEAD!!"

Blixer was awoken to shouting and arms yanking him up off the floor. He thrashed for a second before realizing what was happening. He groaned in pain as his shoulders protested against standing but the guards shoved him forward harshly and told him to keep moving.

_Oh, how he yearned to shatter them against the bricks..._

Anyway, they took a different route this time, not going towards the mess hall. They came to a stop at an unfamiliar door and items were shoved into his hands.

_A bottle of cream for his brand and a... towel...?_

_._

_._

_._

_**Oh shit.** _

"Breakfast is in 10, move it, runt."

They shoved him into the shower room and once again slammed the door behind him.

 _"I'll show you a fucking runt once I'm was back to normal and I'll give you a healthy dose of "_ fuck off, bastard _" on the side."_

The flower continued to cuss at the guards profusely under his breath as he scurried into one of cubicles before anyone knew what was happening. The chatter of the prisoners outside died down as he got into the shower.

_Do they not know how to deal with another person entering a room?_

Once inside, he took a moment to gage his surroundings and center himself. It really wasn't much. Just metal dividers and a door with a shower head and knob built into the wall. It was clean, however, so he didn't care.

Snickering bubbled up from outside and he felt his eye twitch. Muttering arose and a few bouts of laughter. He began stripping off his clothes and put the cream in a nook in the wall where the soap resided. He copied everyone else and hung his towel over the door before turning on the water. It came out ice cold and he felt a shudder tear through his muscles. To be honest, he wasn't even expecting clear water.

The loud talking of the other inmates continued and the room was filled the the sounds of running water and banter. Blixer unwrapped the bandages covering his burns, wincing at how much neon pink fluid they had soaked up.

He wrapped them into a tight ball and chucked them next to his clothes. He turned his back to and leaned into the water, closing his eyes. The irritation was soothed and numbed mildly by the temperature. He breathed deeply and enjoyed the cold for a few seconds.

,

.

.

_The fuc-??_

The grey shape looked down and found a heavily scarred, indigo coloured foot nudging him from the cubicle next door.

"What?"

A light chuckle emanated from beyond the divider. Blixer's eye twitched for the second and definitely not last time.

"So you're " _The King of Corruption_ ", huh?"

He sighed exasperatedly, dragging a hand across his deadpanned face.

"...Did you not get the hint yesterday?"

Another chuckle.

"I was getting my treatment yesterday but my cellmates filled me in on what happened... I heard you have quite a set of chompers!"

"Yeah...?"

_Treatment? What kind of treatment?_

"Your feet are quite a bit smaller than mine... I was expecting you to be a lot bigger!"

Blixer flinched, his brows drawing together. His voice came out as a sneer.

"And I was expecting you to keep your mouth shut but we don't always get what we want, _do we_?"

A sharp laugh erupted from the mainly obscured indigo shape.

"You've got a fighting spirit! It's no wonder you became King!"

Blixer huffed in response and began washing himself. The cobalt soap was slippery, sticky and overall unpleasant on the skin. He shuddered as he rubbed the substance across his body.  
  
"... No offence or anything but-"  
  
"If there's a "but", it's going to be offensive regardless of whether you meant it to be or not."

"True, but that's it like being permanently corrupted?"

"What's it like being indigo?"

The scarred inmate seemed to pause and think about it.

"... Alright, I guess...?"

"Well then, there's your answer-"

"But I couldn't call myself indigo... Because of how many scars I have... I'm more cyan at this point."

The grey shape cringed.

_What kind of a life was he living before this?_

_Fuck..._

Blixer didn't inquire on the matter, knowing that the memories would be just as painful. 

"... And I wouldn't call myself corrupted, just pink, the same way you're indigo and not just pure."

"But pink is corruptive-"

He hissed. He really bloody hated that fucking term.

" _Corrosive_ and it's not my fault that we're is poisonous to you... just like it's not your fault you're poisonous to us."

"Wait- We're poisonous to you?!"

"... If I were exposed to too much or many pure energies, then yeah, I'd get what you like to call "purified" and die. How do you think I got destroyed by the twerps in the first place?"

The other shape giggled at the word "twerps" while Blixer popped a vein.

"But... Pink is violent, destructive-"

"Do you think the Pure energies is any better?-"

"Yes, yes I do-"

" _Then you're a fucking idiot._ "

"Haha! Not the first time I've heard that! But why?"

"... Pink kills you quickly, burns through you in an excruciating heartbeat. Get exposed to enough for long enough and you're either corrupted or done. That's it! Finito! The end!... But _your energy_..."

Blixer tried to speak but the words caught in his throat. The aquamarine scar on his back burned responsively to his thoughts. The feeling of ice cold fire traversed through his form and he suppressed the urge to run his blunted claws across the mark.

"... Hey, uh... Buddy?... Are you-"

"It's slow, torturous, bends you miles past breaking point... It rips you apart, mind, body and soul, piece by piece and makes you watch every second of it. It's like you're drowning; you're begging for the pain to stop, thrashing in the water for dear life... And then... It finally decides it's done with you and kills you all at once... leaving nothing behind... I've seen it... _I've felt it_..."

It took the small flower a moment to realize the room had gone completely silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had the chapter's song playing on repeat while I was writing this. It's an acquired taste. I decided to use it because why the hell not and I'm also thinking of changing the title to the name of another song I've played on repeat recently so expect change.


	13. Yeah, Surprise, I'm In The Same Time (Beneath The Same Sun)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so that went well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Buttercup - Jack Stauber

The shower room became devoid of voices, the only sounds being of running water. Blixer took a deep breath and washed himself off, trying to forget the conversation.

"......Guess I am a fucking idiot..."

". . ."

The small shape finished up and turned off the shower. He pulled his towel off the door, drying himself and being careful with his shoulder. He heard the shape next door finish his business soon after but ignored his presence as he grabbed the cream out of the hole. Wrapping the towel around himself, he gathered the rest of his things and left.

The next room seemed to be a changing room with prisoner numbers written on the doors. There were prisoners milling around talking and putting on their clothes, not seeming to care about how loud they were being. Blixer paid no mind to the holes he could feel burning into the back of his head as he went about his business.

He dumped the dirty bandages in the bin and the worn clothes in the massive laundry bag. The grey flower went over to locker No.1265, opening it up. Inside, he found his boots, fresh clothes and fresh bandages. Somberly, he grabbed the possibly sterile white fabric and sat down on a bench opposite.

Blixer popped the cap on the burn cream and squirted the instructed amount onto his slim fingers. It was a pale yellow and quite jelly-like, slippery too. He cringed, bracing himself for the sting as he reached behind him.

.

.

.

_Nothing...?_

He felt no pain, no pain at all. The flower, pleasantly surprised, began to gently rub it in. The bleeding stopped as the last of it disappeared, finally beginning to heal itself. He unravelled some of the bandage and began wrapping it around the burn, tying the ends together once he was done. The brand didn't hurt anymore but he did not want to reopen the healing skin so he kept his shoulder's movements to a minimum. Blixer stood up and reached into his locker again for his underwear. Finding the item, he began to get dressed.

The flower felt someone tap his shoulder gently, as though weary.

"Hey... I'm sorry if I struck a soft spot back there, I was out of line... Please forgive me, I didn't mean to intrude."

Blixer sighed.

"It's fine. Just don't bring it up again. Ever."

The shape sat beside him and his eye widened a tad. He wasn't kidding when he said he was practically cyan. There were so many slashes and burns, it was hard to imagine how painful that would have been. Barely any skin was left untouched but it didn't surprise him.

What did, however, make his eyebrows raise was the fact that his shape was fractured. He'd seen many of his people like him in the mountains, clinging onto life by a thread, millimetres away from death.

A jagged slice seemed to have been cut from the indigo circle and the missing piece was hovering just in front of where his left eye should have been. It was a miracle he hadn't shattered yet. On the plus side, he didn't have a face so nothing was really hindered and he was still alive... but barely. The "getting treatment" thing made much more sense now.

"... Hey, uh... What's your name?"

The grey flower slipped on his trousers over his underwear and threw the towel across the slowly filling room into the laundry. Some prisoners cussed at him but he couldn't care less.

"Blixer."

"Cool! I'm Scarion, or at least it's what the others call me! I don't remember my real name..."

_No shit..._

"...You're taking my appearance remarkably well."

The smaller pulled on his black vest and his jacket over the top.

""Seen worse."

Scarion smiled and put on his trousers. Blixer slipped on his boots and put the cream back in the locker before taking the key inside and locking it up. He slipped the bandages into his pocket and left the changing room just as it filled up to max capacity.

. . . . .

He entered the practically empty canteen and the guards were there waiting for him by the main door, ready to take him to the first chore he'd be doing for the majority of the day. The flower rolled his eyes and stepped up to get his breakfast. He looked into the kitchen to see what the prisoners on kitchen duty were serving and he cringed.

_What even was that???_

As he was served, he realized that it was in fact oatmeal and not the cheese you find at the bottom of a drainpipe. Blixer sat down on one of the benches and poked the concoction, gulping nervously as it wobbled threateningly.

"Ah... Looks like Vazuro's on kitchen duty. Tree, have mercy for our palettes..."

Scarion sat opposite him and took a deep breath before shoving it all into his face at once and "gulping" it down quickly. He retched and covered his mouth before "swallowing" again and coughing. His form began rapidly glitching, something not uncommon from a fractured shape.

His torso seemed to lag while the rest of him moved as though he was a pixelated picture on a computer. Blixer looked down at the jelly, wondering if it was actually wondering worth eating. The indigo circle stopped glitching out and sighed.

"I-It's better if you just eat it quickly... Tree almighty..."

The flower grabbed his spoon and copied the other, shoveling it into his mouth quickly...

**_Holy Shit._ **

Blixer choked, swallowing as much as he could before hacking up the rest and re-swallowing. He gagged and coughed before groaning. Scarion laughed at his tortured facial expression prompting the inmates adjacent to turn their heads.

_It was going to be a long day..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me a second to find the right name.


	14. Here I Am Tied And Bound (Every Night Feeling Low)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes return for the next part of the story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Let's Go - Stuck In The Sound

Blixer and Scarion were cold, wet, dirty, tired, sore and **royally fucking pissed** when the visitation period came around.

They were angry enough that Blixer could see pink crawling up his fingertips and the left side of Scarion's face was temporarily glitched out. The flower's eye twitched as he recalled what happened and his ears were flat against his head, his resting bitch face turned into a full blown scowl.

The other was in his cell with him, not wanting to be around any other the other inmates on the other side of the building. His was form shaking as every now and then, a body part decided to glitch.

The others had thrown Blixer into the washing machine and put it on for a 2 hour cycle on the turbo spin setting. Blixer had lost consciousness by the time it finished. The guards also had the permission to beat him a second time after his limp body been fished out because he didn't turn up to the next chore ~~and they did not give a flying fuck~~.

While the smaller was spinning in the washing machine, Scarion got pushed around by the other inmates as usual while on kitchen cleaning duty because why the hell not? They threw cold soapy sponges at the back of his head and a few forks. He was used to that but he wasn't used to being locked in the fridge for 10 minutes until the end of the chore session. 

The two were then instructed to clean the showers and they got sprayed with water by the other prisoners. Blixer got punished with toilet duty for biting the guy responsible and destroying his left calf. This left Scarion alone to deal with the assholes and clean the floor.

The neon blue stain on the tiles is never coming out.

A loud, distorted, drawn out groan sounded from next to him. Scarion flopped beside him but he paid him no mind, stewing his anger. His ear twitched as he heard shuffling.

"Hm? What's this?...

3.26.4563: Thursday....

Things are going great! Better than I had ever previously anticipated, well except the fact that the blue hero got ... stuck in my windpipe ??? Barracuda? Whoever that is... has been monitoring the volcano status and says it's good to go for stage two. This is the closest I've gotten in years and I'm not blowing it now! The-"

" _ **Stop reading that-**_ "

Scarion responded by flicking through the notebook he stopped when he got to a certain page.

"Huh... I knew you played but I'd never took you for a singer-songwriter kinda guy-"

Blixer snatched the book away and shoved it under his mattress. He glared down at the now stabilizing circle, pink gracing his fingers.

" _ **Don't touch what's not yours, asshole.**_ _"_

He sat down on his bed, pulling off his boots and pulling off his damp jacket. The flower threw them to the side and rolled over on the bed. Silence filled the room, drowning the two in tension.

"...Do you think we'll ever get out of here?..."

The small voice from the other threatened to break his heart but he was still annoyed with him. Huffing, Blixer turned to the circle, mulling over the question.

Barracuda and Lycanthropy came to mind.

_If they were alive, they'd already be coming for him..._

_Perhaps he could bring Scarion too..._

"... **yes**."

"Do you really think so?-"

" _Hell no._ "

The two jumped as the 4 shapes of the hour entered the space. The blue hero stepped forward with a hard "stare".

"Looks like we'll have to increase security."

"Or maybe one of us should just stick around."

The yellow hero "glared" at Blixer.

"Rather not, guys, who knows what germs are lurking around..."

The flower gave the circular hero a deadpan look, which was returned this time, and much to Blixer's amusement.

"That said, what the hell happened to the two of you- AND WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SHAPE???!! Are you okay?!"

Scarion flinched at the green shape who was now staring at him worriedly, his arm stretched put to ~~touch~~ poke him. The indigo circle shrank back towards towards Blixer who glared at the 4.

"It's rude to shout and point like that, or did the Tree not teach you manners either?"

The pentagon got into his face.

"What you you mean "either", you sack of sh-?!"

The small flower bared his fangs and the green hero promptly recoiled at the blue tint on his otherwise white teeth. The square "frowned" before sitting down in front of him. The other heroes got into their previous spots.

"Look, neither of us are in the mood to be fucked with and I'm assuming you want me to continue so let's get straight to that."

"Continue what?"

Blixer sighed at Scarion.

"I'm telling them my reasons behind destroying the Islands. It was either that or being shattered so...... I guess, I-... Ah, where were we?"

The triangle piped up from the corner of the room.

"There was an explosion in the mountains and Pentako sent Spherion a text."

"Oh right! So-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter coming soon, I apologize for forgetting to do the Chapter bits, sorry if you were already reading (I try)


	15. I'm Waking Up, I Feel It In My Bones (Enough To Make My Systems Blow)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it comes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

_Spherion jogged outside and spotted the smoke rising up from the far east of the Island... from the Mountain. He paled rapidly, knowing full well what this meant. His phone went off and he saw it was a text from Pentako. He looked at the time too, while he was at it._

> {7:54} [ **we need you back here now.** ]

No shit...

_The orange sphere cussed under his breath. He turned to his terrified friends._

_"I have to go and I think you probably should too."_

_"Wait wh-"_

_Spherion took off (not literally) and headed towards the station, not listening to his friends shouting behind him. It wasn't very far. From there, he swiped in and just managed to hop on the Marsh District bound shuttle. As it pulled away, he sent a text back to Pentako._

> {7:55} [ **Meet me at Marina Square, behind the old pastry shop and bring my uniform.** ]

_By the Tree, he was in so much trouble but Pentako was a saint and saviour. He needed to do something nice for him as soon as this was over. Seph watched the smoke in the distance drifting up into the sky with a frown._

_The Mountain District was a place off limits. No shape knew what, or who, was up there but everyone knew never to go there. It was something taught from an early age and ingrained into the mind as an adult. No shuttles could take you there, no safe paths could take you up there either. It was icy and perilous, dangerous to venture into._

_There were many tales of shapes trying and failing to climb the steep slopes and explore the mountains. Many TV shows and live streams explored theories, but none could be farther from the truth. District No.6 was a complete mystery._

_That's because it wasn't a District at all._

_It was a **prison**_ _._

_Spherion and the other heroes knew this from birth and they knew they had to keep it a secret._

The Treeangle said so.

_The voice above chimed for Marina Square and the sphere hopped off, beelining for the alleyway behind the Old Baron's Pastry Shop. He made his way through the damp passage and around to the back of the bakery, out of sight._

_He hummed a little tune as he waited for his brother. Seph's phone vibrated and he checked his messages. His friends were blowing up his account on_ **SH4RD** _asking what he was doing or where he was going. He muted all of them and went offline. He couldn't be distracted by a notification if he was to engage in a battle._

 _"You are in so much trouble, Spherion! The Officials are going_ ballistic _!! They are going to ring you out, dude!"_

_"Pentako!"_

_The latter was decked out in his form-fitting uniform. Shin length lime green and white boots, green trousers, white jacket with a high green collar, and a flowing green cape that reached his ankles. In his arms was Seph's own uniform, one that he fought to have because the Officials wanted him dressed like a prince when he felt he was more like a rogue bounty hunter._

Yeah, he's a weird kid.

_"You better hurry and head to the Western Face, that's where the breach is!"_

_Spherion nodded as he received his clothes._

_"You got it, Chief!"_

_Pentako chuckled and took off into the sky, heading towards the smoke. Seph began pulling off his casual clothes and swapping them out for the uniform. Orange and white shin length boots, orange trousers, black thin 3/4 sleeve high-collared vest with orange accents, sleeveless, high-collared long white jacket with a thick orange stripe down the back and of course white and orange fingerless gloves. The jacket reached his ankles because they wanted to put him in a cape and he said **fuck no**._

_Spherion let his form glow and tucked his old clothes away in an empty crate. He tucked his pendant into his vest and leapt into the air, flying towards the mountain and following the bright green speck that was his brother._

_. . . . ._

_Seph made his way up the icy face of rock and into the cloud of smoke. It was quite cold but not enough to hinder him. He held his breath, not wanting to breathe in the dust. Not that he really needed to._ _For a moment he could see nothing until something tickled the back of his mind. He abruptly moved left just as a laser shot past him on his right._

_A very close call._

_He touched down on the powdery ashen snow at the top of the cliff and all was made clear. His brethren were having a stand off with 20 other Mountain Dwellers. They were armed. Spherion's entrance only provoked one of them however no more weapons were fired._

_There were hundreds behind them. All of them carrying the same bright magenta hue. The sphere felt something tighten in his chest but he didn't know what it was. Just "looking" at them made him feel weird, like there was something familiar about them, like he'd forgotten something important._ _The hostile pink shapes had base cannons trained on them and some had summoned their own weapons._

_Seph felt a little anxiety crawl up his spine as his "eyes" settled on their ringleader. There was something about her that he recognized, but he couldn't tell what. The armed shapes had helmets on, concealing their identities. Opting to stay silent, the sphere let his peers do the talking._

_"Please return to the gates, we do not want things to get ugly-"_

_"Well if things are gonna have ta get ugly in our pursuit of freedom then_ **so be it.** _We ain't staying in this mountain a second longer._ _"_

_Many of the other shapes behind the pink leader cheered and raised their weapons._

_Spherion felt sick._

_There was something he was missing, something wrong here._

He didn't want to be here.

_Pyran spoke up._

_"This is your last warning. Go back to the gates or **we will use force.**_ "

_"NEVER!"_

_Seph couldn't help but feel that there were so many things wrong here. He took a step back, earning the attention of Lupe. She whispered to him as they began preparing to fight._

_"Are you alright, Seph? You don't look so good..."_

_"....... Is it me or is there something wrong with this situation?"_

_The cube "frowned" at him as he clenched his fists._

_"What do you mean? They're_ pink _, Seph. They're going to reek havoc in the City and harm hundreds of people. The Tree warned us about the corruption they harbour and their violent tendencies, remember? And has it ever steered us wrong?"_

_Spherion shook his head and hugged himself. He still couldn't shake the sickly feeling of what he was about to do. Lupe put a hand on his shoulder._

_"They are_ bad _. We've been training our whole lives for this, Spherion. You of all people should remember that!_ It's our purpose _."_

_The orange sphere shook her off gently._

_"... I don't like it."_

_Quadralupe "rolled her eyes" with a sigh as the into of the song faded in. Spherion floated to the side and into position, blocking the way down. The 4 placed themselves into a diamond formation, Seph at the back and Pentako at the front._ _The sphere swallowed harshly and placed his feet firmly in the snow._

He didn't like this at all.

> { **Tristam & Braken - Flight**}

"ENGAGE!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its getting harder and hared to think of lines from songs the would coincide with the chapters... So I might reuse some of the songs at some point.  
> Also, I'm probably going to draw all the characters (already drawn Blixer and Cube) at some point.


	16. Hey Brother! There's An Endless Road To Rediscover (Hey Sister! Know The Water's Sweet But Blood Is Thicker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FIGHT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Hey Brother - Avicii

> { **Tristam & Braken- Flight**}

_"_ _ENGAGE!"_

_The leader cried at her soldiers and half of them charged headfirst towards the team of heroes, the others staying behind to make long ranged attacks. Spherion got nervous. They didn't know what they were up against. The pink leader glared all 4 of them down as she raised her thin dagger._

_Pentako sighed at this fired a laser from his hands on the beat as the music burst out from the intro._

_Seph felt everything move in slow motion. Most of them were quick enough to dodge but one was too slow. He saw the terror in their body language just before the beam made contact, the fear of death, destruction._

_The sickening crack of their shape being broken and the bloody screech that followed echoed through the mountains. Their shards sprayed out in all directions as their body disintegrated into nothingness, leaving behind only their armour and the pieces of a shattered hexagon._

_Spherion looked on in horror as three of the shapes behind screamed what he was assuming was their name. His brother continued to fire with the beat of the music as they advanced, picking them off slowly. Some of the shapes behind those armed cursed or cried out as someone was killed, the rest yelling out curses at Seph and his brethren._

_As they began to close in, Lupe and Pyran began exterminating any of the Mountain Dwellers that got past their brother. Not a second later, Pentako was stuck by a pink laser and half of his head disappeared. The long range attacks began and they were showered with projectiles and lasers, each perfectly times to line up with the beat. Seph began dodging, keeping an eye on his siblings._

_Then the drop hit._

**_And all hell broke loose._ **

_Shards and armour were scattered across the snow and the mountainside was quickly becoming a graveyard. More armoured shapes poured out of the hundreds that had amassed at the cave entrance and were once more slowly picked off._

Lupe was entirely wrong: THIS IS NOT WHAT THEY TRAINED FOR!

_A tingling sensation in the back of his mind told him to step backwards and he immediately did so. He dashed a good few meters down the path just as a knife was about to slice him in half. He could feel the fiery hatred directed towards him as the pink leader advanced, knife in hand._

_He felt sick to his stomach with himself, like he had committed more evils than ever thought possible._

_The sphere reluctantly raised his palms, ready to fire a laser. She stopped in the snow, blade raised, and waited for him to make the first move. Seph had the opportunity and her form lined up but he couldn't bring himself to fire, so the woman took that as an opening. She sprinted forward and leaped above him, slashing down. He dove out of the way as the knife impaled the rock where he was previously._

That was a very sharp blade _._

_Spherion didn't want to hurt her, maybe they could talk!_

_"Please! I don't want to fight you!"_

_The shape snarled at him._

_" **Then give us our freedom, you**_ **bastard.** _**"** _

_The tingling returned and he flipped up as another pink laser flew underneath him, striking the leader instead. Her body was thrown down the path and into the icy stone. The attack didn't phase her at all, causing her no harm. Just what Seph wanted. The pink shape quickly stood back up and tried to run at him, knife raised._

_Big mistake._

_She stumbled forwards and slipped on the black ice. Seph panicked as she slid back towards the edge of a cliff. He dashed forward and grabbed her hand just as she went over. She yelped as he gripped her arm and her fall was abruptly stopped. The sphere dug his fingers into the frozen rocks as his body slipped with her._

_"SPHERION!! What are you doing?!!"_

_"SEPH! FIGHT!"_

_A bass cannon blast skimmed his form, just missing him. The sphere cursed and began pulling the pink shape back up to the le-_

_"_ AGHh _!"_

_The sphere felt metal slide through his wrist forcing him to drop her slightly. He cried out again in pain as the knife pushed in further. Spherion "looked" down at the woman who was driving her blade into his arm._

_"What... are you... doing?!"_

_"I'd rather **die** than be saved by someone like **you**."_

_Seph yanked her up onto the ledge, throwing her unintentionally harshly. He yelled in agony as he pulled himself up with one arm. He gripped his wrist tightly, his glowing orange blood trickling down his fingers. He looked up to find a blade with glowing clementine fluid smeared across it directly in front of his face. The leader glared down at him._

_" **Why?** "_

_He stayed silent, unsure how to answer._

_"HEY! I asked you a que-"_

_"I didn't want to kill you."_

_"... Why?"_

_"..."_

_Seph wasn't sure what to say. There was something about her that seemed..._

_"WHY, DAMMNIT??!"_

_She pressed the tip of the blade into the sphere, who hissed as it began to hurt._

_"........ You're familiar to me."_

_The shape paused._

_There was a thick and heavy silence between the two. Slowly the knife was lowered slightly. Seph gripped his arm tighter as more blood trickled out onto the snow. He gritted his teeth._

_"How? I've never even seen you before!"_

_"I don't know why... But... I couldn't let you die... It felt like I'd betray someone if I did..."_

_The pink leader stood silent for a moment and though processing. She dropped the knife, letting it sink into the snow and stepped away from him. She was shaking horribly, as though the cold had finally got to her. Without another word, she dashed back to the rest of the pink shapes, somehow dodging what was left of Lupe, Pyran and Pentako. Seph's vision blurred as she gave the order to retreat, forcing everyone to reluctantly fall back into the mountain._

_The sphere grabbed her knife and studied her blade._

_He knew this dagger._

_He knew **her**...?_

**_But_ why _?_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another chapter that sucks ass, I'll probably rewrite it


	17. Looking For Answers (But I'm Blinded By The Light)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well that garners a lot of questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter name: Snowblind - AU5  
> (Really fucking love this one)

_Spherion spent the rest of the day in the infirmary getting his wrist fixed so that it would heal properly. He and his siblings had astonishing regenerative abilities but if an injury wasn't checked over, it might heal wrong. The doctors worked fast as they realigned the bone that got fractured and pushed out of place, putting him under local anesthesia._

_The entire time all he could think about was the woman's reaction to his explanation, the way she froze up as though coming to a sickening realization._

What did it mean?

Did she know what he meant when he said it would feel like he was betraying someone if he killed her?

_All of these questions were frustratingly confusing._

_And on top of this,_ _not only was Seph rendered out of commission for the rest of that day, given a lecture from the Officials about the importance of maintaining a certain image and a second lecture from them along with his siblings about why they should kill off any pink shapes that manage to escape the mountains (though Pyran didn't seem too happy about it), but he now had a to go through a third punishment while undergoing an identity crisis_

_All items associated with the outside world, with "normalcy", were promptly confiscated or destroyed and he had to watch as everything he found comfort in was ripped away from him. They raided every place they could think of, sparing nothing._

_His stuffed animals (yes, he has those and they were really fucking cute, sue him) were replaced with textbooks, his casual clothes sent to be incinerated and his shuttle pass was snapped in half. Even the snacks he kept hidden in the bottom drawer of his desk were eaten in front of him._

_((But screw them because he still had two dozen secret stashes of hot cheetos, pop tarts, marshmallows and all the other good stuff hidden in far more inconspicuous places all over his room and around the entire complex! He also kept a lot more precious items and clothes he really did not want to lose hidden in those places too AND he could just order a new pass.))_

_Seph was (still) angry, furious even, but he was also a little scared and confused. The mountain incident really threw him off._

_The news stations on the Islands documented on the explosion, telling the City that the quake was caused by a misfire of a bass cannon prototype which caused a cave system to collapse and the issue was quickly resolved. Seph knew from_ **SH4RD** _that no one believed the story and, to be honest, he wouldn't either._

_The sphere had managed to avoid his siblings out of spite for a week and a half thus far, spending most of his time doing solo training, studying or thinking. He was still trying to wrap his head around how they could kill so many shapes like that in front of their families and say that **he** was in the wrong. _

_He neglected eating when his brethren were around and flunked out of drills, choosing to hole himself away somewhere they wouldn't find him._

And that was exactly what he was doing now.

_Spherion had been sat on the roof of their living quarters for hours trying to clear his head. The pink leader's dagger felt heavy in his hand, the thin blade carrying a lot of information, maybe about who he is ~~or was~~. Seph twirled the knife between his fingers, finding a sort of solace in the cold feeling of the metal._

_The sphere's other arm had long healed at this point and only a prominent pale amber scar remained. It still ached horribly without painkillers, however. He refrained from spinning the blade in favor of flexing it a bit, testing the waters. It felt a little stiff but it was functional, though it hurt a little, so he didn't worry about it._

_He stopped inspecting the joint to lay back and stare at the sky. Seph wondered how far up he could fly before he ran out of air or bumped into something. It was almost like a void. Just blue and white, endlessly... He floated up into a standing position before looking down at the dagger again._

Suddenly an idea came to him.

The Officials kept records of everything important, surely they had a record of his birth!

_The Archives were on the other side of the Complex where the offices resided and it was heavily guarded. The files were stored on a huge computer and had been encrypted unless a password was imputed._

And that was only to get into the main server.

_But Seph could do all of that because he had a password and the guards would let him in because he was allowed in there whenever he wanted._

_However, there were restricted files. That's where the confidential information is kept and where their birth records were filed. The pass code for those changes every 24 hours and the new code is displayed on an Official's computer at midnight and midday. But to get that code he'd have to go into the also heavily guarded office._

_Seph paced back and forth as he formulated a plan to get the answers he so sorely needed._

_**He was going to find out, one way or another**._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only actually used one line because the other line it would have gone with didn't fit the chapter (or the entire story)


	18. Then You Will Change Yo Life (Like A Computa Hakka)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says it all really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Computa Hakka - Pegboard Nerds

_Silence. A common aspect associated with the dead of night. The Officials had left for their quarters hours previously and the offices were drenched in a thick darkness. The building was almost desolate, save for the guards patrolling every few minutes._

_From the ventilation shaft, a figure cloaked in black watched through the grating as the guards inside the main office room changed. The two burlier shapes left the room and the figure dropped down soundlessly from the unnecessarily high ceiling, immediately logging into a computer._

_Seph didn't even need to think of what the username and password could be due the person having a post-it note with the codes written on it stuck to the bottom of the holographic monitor. Stupid. He turned on the computer, logged in and looked at the clock._

Just under 2 minutes until the guards get back and 1 minute until midnight.

_Spherion stared at the time anxiously. He grabbed the pen and paper he had hidden in his pocket. Every second was a needle poking the back of his mind, reminding him that he would get into serious trouble for this if he was found out..._

_...._

_8_

_7_

_6_

_5_

_4_

_3_

_2_

1

....

/ **2H9SL36P00EK4**

_Seph jotted it down as soon as it appeared on the screen. His pen flew across the page and he double checked he had everything right before logging off and shutting down. He shoved the pen and paper into his pocket once more and flew back up into the ventilation system._

_The new guards entered the room only a second after he put the grate back into place._

They suspected nothing.

**Task 1 Complete.**

_. . . . ._

_The sphere was dressed in uniform after solo training in the later hours of the morning. Seph had overslept as he usually did now and skipped breakfast to avoid his siblings. He wasn't hungry, however, just thinking about his brethren made him lose his appetite. He was headed towards the archives, notebook in hand, ignoring concerned looks he got from other shapes._

_He stepped up to the guards at the door and they stepped aside, the twin doors opening for him._

_Inside, every surface of the triangular room was coated in tiles of black marble, except the main computer interface. There was a skylight at the top of the room, bathing the space in a cold light. The many blocks of computerized systems below the floor, storing the vast amounts of historical information, whirred to life as he stepped up to the pedestal the white holographic interface sat on._

**/Good Morning.**

**/State password...**

_As the sphere typed in his password, he felt nervous chills run down his spine._

What would he find?

What if he was better off not knowing?

What if he got caught?

_He took a deep breath and pressed enter on the keyboard. It was too late to turn back. Seph clicked on the icon for the restricted files on the main menu. A red bar flashed across the middle of the screen, almost giving him a heart attack until he read the white lettering._

**/YOU ARE ABOUT TO PROCEED INTO RESTRICTED FILES.**

**/PASSWORD REQUIRED.**

Oh right!

_Spherion pulled off his glove, exposing the scrap bit of paper he used last night and the password. He swiftly typed it in and submitted it. It took a worrying moment to confirm itself before a search bar came up in the middle of the screen._

_Seph pulled his glove back on and typed "Hero birth" into the system._

**/200 reports, 415 documents, 132 articles, 3 artifacts and 18 entries found.**

_The sphere surveyed his options and clicked on the entries. They seemed like they might be the most helpful and there was less to work through. He clicked again on the first one and began reading._

**He wished he hadn't.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what I was thinking with this...


	19. Keeping A Book Of Secrets (And Taking It Too Far)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peculiar... Very peculiar indeed.
> 
> [Heroes' POVs (obviously in third person)]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Crash - Neovaii

. . . . .

"That's it! Visitation's up!"

Blixer stared at the ground; his brows twitched ever so slightly and his fists were tightly clenched. The door swung open and the "heroes" stood up, grumbling about how they were in the middle of something. Scarion "frowned" at him deeply, clearly trying and struggling to process the information.  
  
"Wait wait wait! So... You're telling me that... the heroes had predecessors?"

The grey shape continued to look downward and the glowing polygons stopped to look back at the fractured shape. The blue square waved his brothers along and stayed behind to answer.

"Yes."

"Then, why aren't they in our history?"

"...They failed their purpose."

The fractured circle looked more perplexed at the square's second answer.

"Failed? What do you mean?"

"I don't know... But it has something to do w-"

" _HEY!_ Story time is _over_. Leave your questions for _tomorrow,_ please."

The two flinched at Blixer's outburst, turning to look at him. The flower silently stood up and stormed out, leaving the other two in the room with one of the guards, the other 4 taking the grey shape to the canteen. The square and the circle looked at each other, confused. The blue hero's "brows furrowed" as he stared at the guitarist's hunched retreating form.

"There are almost no records on the heroes that came before us, the files had gotten erased long before we were born... Our Caretaker and The Tree told us next to nothing too which, combined with Blixer's request to keep what we know now from It, raises some pretty odd questions..."

The blue shape sighed.

"I can't say that I hadn't been curious before but I most definitely am now."

Scarion huffed a laugh, the two beginning to head their separate ways.

"You can say that again! Nice meeting you...?"

"Cyan."

. . . . .

It was becoming a super mundane routine at this point:

> Wake up
> 
> Train
> 
> Eat
> 
> Study
> 
> Eat
> 
> Study
> 
> Treeangle
> 
> Eat
> 
> Train (with Cube)
> 
> Sleep
> 
> Repeat

But the addition of Blixer made it a tad more bearable.

When they first heard that they were asked to basically interrogate the mad king, they jumped at the chance to get some answers. That one week that he was in power was absolute torture. If seeing the people you grew up with die over and over again wasn't painful then they didn't know what was. Cube being ripped away from them was... _awful_... "Awful" was too weak a word but they didn't know how else to describe it... She was basically an older sister. There was also this underlying itch that they all felt, like something was awfully wrong... and, surprisingly, they couldn't pin it on Blixer.

_It seemed to be more than him._

Penta was hit the hardest by the pink corruption but not physically. The other three could tell that there was something deeper going on but when asked, the green hero would tense up and disappear for a few minutes. It was very concerning and could have something to do with the soft nagging sensation in the back of their heads.

Cyan had taken it upon himself to lead them, not that any of them minded, and so felt responsible for the suffering their brother was going through. It put a strain on him and therefore the team. He'd kept how stressed he really was inside but he was starting to crack under pressure.

Clementine didn't do so well either. He felt like there was something different about him. He told no one about it, Penta's frequent... episodes were bad enough to deal with. Cyan didn't need the extra burden.

And Tri... _Tri was **pissed** at everything._ Pissed at the water, pissed at the corrupted flowers, pissed at the fricking sky and don't get him started on Lycanthropy. That _thot_ won't be smiling when he gets a laser shoved up his fine ass, _he's confident_.

The buzzsaws in the factory could politely screw the hell off, back to whatever furnace made them preferably, and leave him alone. And why the hell was Blixer so bloody creepy in his New Game form?! Keep your mouth firmly _shut_ , thank you, he didn't need more nightmares! Cyan getting sucked in past those massive sharp teeth was jarring enough, for Tree's sake!

"They're all fricking _demons_!!" - That, they all agreed on.

That aside, however, the 4 were scrambling to get to the prison as soon as they got the instruction. They were expecting him to be... sort of... maybe, cackling maniacally in the corner of his cell or raking the claws they knew he had across the walls or screeching profanities at anything and everything... not... a small, grey flower, playing his core song in a melancholic way... It sort of felt remorseful...

It caught them off guard to say the least...

But when they properly introduced themselves it was alarmingly apparent that The King of Corruption, the Overlord of all Evil, the guy who wrecked the Islands... was really fricking dumb.

_Surprise, surprise everybody!_

However, that persona didn't last long.

As soon as he laid eyes on Penta, his _ears **drooped**_. ~~When the hell did he get _ears_???~~ They'd met before in battle but he didn't seem quite so.... horrified, to put it lightly. This confirmed that there was something going on between the green hero and Blixer, but their brother didn't seem to be so fazed by it... He just looked annoyed.

Getting the dethroned king to talk wasn't... as they expected either... They thought he had no reason, that he just did it to spite the world, they weren't prepared to hear the truth about the ones who came before them...

_But how did he know all of this?_

_How **could** he know all of this?_

_The Firsts all disappeared 10 years ago and there's no way Blixer could even **know**_ _Spherion because he's **pink**!_

_It makes no sense!_

The heroes had considered the fact that he was lying but the small amounts of pain on his face as he spoke said otherwise.

_There was definitely more he wasn't telling them._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cube's up next, bois


	20. Think Of These Thoughts As Limitless Light (Exposing Closing Circuitry Of Fright)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh...
> 
> [Cube POV]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: The Mind Electric - Miracle Musical

The Treeangle does not speak.

That would be absurd ~~a~~ ~~nd honestly quite frightening.~~

It more or less shows the shape communicating a series of images through thought that convey a meaning.

Like telepathy almost.

_But wordless._

_And slightly cryptic at times._

Inside the Glade of Life, the epicenter of the City and the home of the great Tree, Cube was sat on the dewy blue-green grass in front of the sentient plant. It had asked for her presence directly, something she'd never thought possible since she always had to be in close proximity to be able to talk to it.

The first rays of the morning light of the Sun spilled over the various species of flora decorating the garden. Cube yawned as she pulled her dressing gown further around herself.

_What could it want with her at this hour?_

Still under the influence of sleep, she rubbed her eyes and spoke quietly.

"Why have you summoned me so early?"

**Two beings face to face in a vast emptiness.**

Cube scratched the back of her head, her groggy brain struggling to figure out what it meant.

"A... private conversation? Why? About what?"

**The distraught and enraged face of Blixer.**

That woke her up. What does he have to do with anything? Everyone was safer now. He was locked up securely and she, along with the heroes, would make sure that he never got out again.

The threat had been dealt with already.

"Him? W-Why do you want to talk about him? I did as exactly as you asked!"

**Confirmation.**

**A hand gesture for "wait".**

**A hand gesture for "more".**

"You... You want me to do more than that?"

**Confirmation.**

She frowned, confused.

"What? Like, tightening security or... _chaining him up again?_ "

The image of his half dead form graced her minds eye and she shuddered. The sight of his decaying body bound in chains would cling to her heart forever.

_She never wanted for any of that to ever happen again._

**The shake of a head.**

**Chuckling.**

**A younger Blixer escaping a barred cell with ease.**

"Hmm... I'm not going to sit by and let him escape easily, but if you're right, then why did you ask me to collect him?"

**A camera.**

**Blixer.**

That really confused Cube. More than it should have, actually.

"Uh...? So we can take photos of him...?"

**Laughter.**

**The vehement shake of a head.**

**A camera surveilling an area. Blixer.**

"...Oh! To monitor him!"

Cube pouted, embarrassed.

**Chuckling.**

"So... What is it exactly you want me to do?"

A pause...

She really doesn't like pauses. They made her anxious.

_Because pauses meant something sickening._

**...**

**Magenta blood and shards splattered across a white floor.**

Her eyes widened. Never in her time working in the Tree's inner court has she ever seen or heard of the Tree asking someone to outright kill another shape. Sure, it had imbued a sense of duty to destroy (or capture) any pink shape within vicinity in the heroes, but it was never...

_And so graphic too..._

Cube's form shivered. Blixer seem like an asshole who seems not to care how many people he hurts as long as he can get to his goal, but he was still, under all the bitter of their relationship, after getting her corrupted, at least a friend to her.

Cube could never hurt him again. She'd wronged him deeply and her heart clenched at the thought of murdering him. She'd never forgive herself.

...

~~She'd wondered if the Tree would make good firewood.~~

She banished the thought before speaking aloud.

"W-What? You w-want me to-... to-... I can't..."

**Question. Mild confusion.**

"No."

**...**

**Cube and Blixer having their final argument.**

She shook her head.

A beat of silence passed between the two beings. The morning breeze gained a subtle chill, an unwavering tension hanging in the air like the blade of a guillotine.

**Blixer turning his back on her. ~~EMPHASIS.~~**

"I can't."

**Sharp glares and sharper words spoken. ~~EMPHASIS. MILD IRRITATION.~~**

She shook her head to stop the Tree from forcing more images into her mind and gave herself a moment. Cube stood up and took a step back, tears prickling the edges of her vision.

"I _wo_ _n't_."

The Treeangle was getting _quite_ tired of her insubordination. It pressed deeper, drawing tears from the Caretaker.

**Blixer's disgusted sneer as he looked down on her. ~~IRRITATION~~ ~~. MILD ANGER.~~**

" _WHY?!_ "

Cube fell backwards as the overwhelming surge of thought tore into her brain.

~~**SILENCE. DO NOT QUESTION.** ~~

The 3D shape scrambled away, clutching the edges of her head in an attempt to soothe the harrowing pain. She vaguely noticed the sapphire blue blood dripping onto the grass but didn't have the mental capacity to fully acknowledge it. A piercing white noise was all that filled her ears, raking its long nails through the remains of her fractured mindscape.

Cube lay on her side, twitching violently.

_W ha t w as t h at?_

A flash of white light filled the world around her, it made the pain disappear...

_However, it didn't stop the instilled fear._

_And burning hatred._

Still very shaken, she slowly uncurled herself and sat up, shivering as though she were a leaf in the wind. Her head felt less like every single brain cell was torn being apart atom by atom and more dizzy, if anything.

It was bearable at least.

_What even happened?_

She definitely knew now that the Tree didn't like being told "no". Although, that had been quite obvious since she could remember. The cube should have known better than to test its patience, it was the sole wielder of the most powerful source of energy in existence after all. 

The Treeangle stood silentlly, the soft murmurs of the wind passing through the trees around It. Cube gently eased herself into a standing position and took a few steps away from the white entity.

.

.

.

It readdressed the conversation previous and this time, she would not yield the same results.

**Blue, yellow, green and orange shards scattered across the grass. ~~COMPOSURE.~~**

Cube was trapped, unsure of how to proceed. She positively abhorred the thought of outright killing the failed king, doing so would haunt her forever but...

_Did she really have a choice?_

"...... I-I'll do it... Just give m-me time..."

**...**

**A ringing alarm** **clock.**

"I'll f-figure it out..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit's about to hit the fan, people.
> 
> ((God, this took me so long. I hit a writer's block halfway through. I'm sorry if this makes no sense.


	21. So With Advice Of The Dead (And A Halo Over My Head)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Honey I'm Home - Ghost  
> [Back to Blixer's POV]  
> ((I'm going to use this song again in the next chapter.))

Blixer scrubbed the white tile of the toilet floor absently, trying to distract himself from his deafening thoughts. The flower had been put on toilet duty again, for no reason this time...

_Well... actually..._

He _might_ have sought out the guys who shoved him into the washing machine and scratched them until every inch of exposed skin resembled a wire fence...

...

_But they fucking deserved it!_

And, really, he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Blixer's ears lowered towards his head, occasionally twitching towards the sounds that lay beyond the guarded door and coming from inside the toilets.

In all honesty, he didn't know why the heroes weren't just interrogating him, they had the option to after all. The shape truly believed that they would be livid, murderously angry even. Instead, they were somewhat calm and just... listened. They let him give his reasons at his own pace and take his time.

The grey shape wasn't sure how to respond to that...

It was... a kindness he wasn't expecting.

~~_Especially since he murdered them both indirectly and directly hundreds of times._ ~~

~~~~He winced at the thought and stilled.

Blixer had had to take frequent pauses while he was speaking. He didn't like recalling most of anything from the past; it left him feeling empty and stupid, like complete and utter shit. He knew it was obvious too.

There were a few... deeper bits he was skipping also. He filled in the gaps with half truths and the heroes couldn't seem to tell but he knew if he delved into those areas, bad things would start happening.

With a long sigh, he resumed scrubbing the floor. The sound of the brush scraping the tile was soothing to the former king, the chatter of the 2 other prisoners becoming less than incessant white noise.

The cold flooring was mildly uncomfortable on his knees and he tried not to think about what the stalls are going to look like when he got around to them. The two inmates with him were currently braving the cubicles and cleaning out the toilet bowls, something Blixer didn't really have the stomach for.

_And by the sound of the retching noises, they didn't either._

Ew.

. . . . .

_Okay, asshole._

_Cut the bullshit_.

" _ **OOW!! Fuck!!**_ What in Tree's name is _wrong_ with you?!"

"If you haven't noticed, I've bitten 2 other shapes and scratched the heck out of another 4. Also, we're in prison, you should expect this shit."

"B-But-!"

"You sound really stupid right now. More stupid than you already did. Get a life, you loser."

"You're a fucking _lunatic_."

" _Aren't we all?_ "

"Ugh! You both disgust me!"

"The feeling is mutual."

"Fuck you!'

The rhombus sneered at the indigo circle and him from the ground as he clutched his forearm, which was steadily dripping blue liquid onto the mopped floor. Blixer wiped his mouth with a grin, rubbing away the pastel purple now staining his lips. He pulled Scarion away with his other hand, not sparing a glance as the quadrilateral began cussing them out.

Surprisingly, the guards outside didn't step in to stop them fighting; the loud cry of pain should have been enough to alert them.

_Huh, they must hate him just as much as he did._

The fractured circle was being unnaturally quiet and it may have worried the flower a bit. His body felt rigid as the grey shape guided him over to the far side of the canteen. They were supposed to be mopping the floor but this bastard decided to harass his ~~friend~~ associate and needed his ass kicked.

Possibly literally.

The two stood in silence: Scarion stewing in his own thoughts and Blixer not pressing him for anything. The rhombus had left for the infirmary, leaving them alone.

Good fucking riddance.

"... Hey, uh... Blixer?"

The latter looked over at the broken circle, who glitched slightly upon meeting his gaze. The indigo shape shuddered before falling still.

"... Uh...Corrupt- I mean- Pink energy has mutative abilities when used on shapes of blue energy, right?"

Blixer frowned, unsure of where he was going with this. He thought he'd asked him not to bring this up again so he'd better have a good reason for going down that road. He folded him arms over his chest and leaned against the wall.

"... Yes, why?"

Scarion's body lagged slightly.

.

.

.

"...... Do you think it could fix me?"

...

The flower froze.

_Where did **that** come from??_

His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. He struggled to find words. The failed king's brow twitched a little further down, trying to think about too many things at once.

"... I-... I don't-... W-Well-... I'm no expert, but... Y-You're pretty unstable as it is, pink energy would just kill you... It'd take a miracle to-"

"Good thing I believe in miracles then."

Blixer stared at him with shocked silence. Scarion pressed further.

"What's the point in just doing nothing when something can be done?!"

~~_Yeah, and look how that turned out for "The King of Corruption"._ ~~

~~~~The grey flower shook his head. He didn't want to be responsible for the death of another. Not again.

"Scarion, you'd lose your life-"

"I've already lost it, Blixer. I've lost everything that I ever cared about. Besides, you said it would take a miracle, meaning there is a chance!"

"A 1 in a million chance."

"I want to try. I _have_ to try! Fuck the odds!"

The other shook his head a second time, turning away from Scarion.

"I can't live like this anymore! Not knowing when I'll fall apart and fearing that every moment is my last!"

"..."

"....Even if it might be hopeless... I still want to give it a shot because it might work. I have faith that it _will_ work."

_No!_

The flower shut his eyes and pushed off the wall, walking away from the o-

A hand latched onto him and prevented him from going any further.

"Please, Blixer... None of my treatments are working and it's slowly getting worse... I have to give it a try..."

The latter's fingers curled into fists.

.

.

.

Blixer let out a shaky sigh.

"If you die, _I'll fucking kill you._ "

Scarion chuckled breathlessly, releasing his arm. The smaller turned to look at him, a small strained smile gracing his features and weariness filling his eyes.

"...You shouldn't be put off by something, even if the rate of success is slim... You and I, of all people, should know that..."

Blixer's smile fell then.

But that kind of thinking is what wrecked the Islands in the first place.

He was _desperate_...

He was _distraught_...

He was filled with an insatiable _**hatred**_.

He didn't care what happened to him, he just wanted to get rid of-

...

_Maybe Scarion is right..._

_Maybe Blixer should-..._

_...Maybe..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, it's about to go down.
> 
> (Also, for some reason, writing this chapter was really hard... Idk why)


	22. At Last, "Honey, I'm Home!" (Three Voices Come All Alone)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're ready

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly at one month now... God there's going to be a lot of chapters.
> 
> (Again, same song as before)

The failed pink king stared up at the white ceiling, his hands tucked comfortably behind his spiked head. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, letting his mind drift to wherever it wanted to go. He brushed his fingertips against the scars on his wrists, feeling how the marred skin differed from the untouched.

Blixer wondered if-

" _GET TO THE EAST SIDE!_ "

" _SECURE THE CORRUPTED!_ "

He gasped. The flower's eyes flew open and he sat up on the bed, a wide grin crawling across his face. He knew exactly what was going on the second he heard shouting and there was no time for sleep.

_So they weren't dead, then._

The flower sat back and let the show begin, chuckling softly at the chaos ensuing beyond the door.

A subtle pink glow caught his eye and he looked up at the slit in the ceiling. He stood up and walked over to it, standing underneath. The sound of footsteps along the roof got a little louder, the glow getting brighter. His smile sharpened.

A pair of ebony eyes peered down through the slit.

" _Ooh!_ So you're the boss! You're a flower like me! That's so cool! Also, you have really sharp teeth! Like, razor sharp! Hey! That makes sense! Our team name is Razor Sharp and everyone has something sharp about them! Awesome! Cuda said that you were a cat, though, which makes no sense because cats aren't flowers! So why are you a flower right now? And why are you grey?? Or maybe Cuda needs to get his eye checked! I've been wanting to meet you for so long-"

Blixer's smile faltered as the excitable kid began rambling on ~~and he was going to murder Cuda for calling him a cat because HE WAS NOT A CAT!!! HE WASN'T!!!~~ He sighed tiredly.

"Its nice to meet you too, but we're kind of on a tight schedule. Just give me the shard, kid."

"Oh, right! Let me see..."

There was a lot of shuffling before the glow brightened significantly. The grey flower eyed the door, wondering if the guards were going to bust in.

"Cuda said that this is one of the last shards we have and to use any of the others sparingly."

A "corrupted" triangle floated down through the hole and he lifted a hand. He smirked as it hovered in his grasp. The door flew open just in time and he looked back with a smile, savoring the look of unadulterated horror as he gripped the shard tightly enough to pierce his skin.

★

Rose light engulfed the room and everyone in close quarters was thrown back. There was a yelp from Lycanthropy on the roof and a few screams from the jailers, more of whom were approaching the scene.

" **Fuck, it feels so _good_ to be _me_ again.**"

The guards stopped in their tracks as the lowered voice of their star prisoner erupted from the glowing cell. They raised their bass cannons in fear.

" **Hey, kid, tell Cuda to meet me outside the west wing.** "

A large pink hand shot out of the doorway and the reinforced concrete frame cracked beneath the fingers. The officers collectively took a step back as a tall figure emerged from the room.

"Hehe! You got it, Boss!"

Blixer rolled his shoulders as the footsteps retreated and he looked down at the guards, now at least a good head and shoulders taller than all of them. He blinked a little, starting to get back to being used to the lack in his depth of perception.

_Who's the runt now, bitch?!_

His prison uniform had shrunken considerably on his new form. He'd need to change it anyway. It wouldn't hinder him too much for now though.

The New Fresh cracked his knuckles and summoned his larger arms, the three-fingered ~~paws~~ hands landing on the smooth floor with two loud thumps. He flexed them experimentally before raising them.

" _ **Oh**_ **, how I've been _waiting_ for this!**"

. . . . .

There was a state of unrest amongst prisoners in the west wing. Most of them were asking what was going on. The noise increased when 5 panicked guards fled screaming down the corridor, a massive triangular pink snake following shortly after at a calm and leisurely pace.

The reptile almost completely filled width of the corridor and it's head was easily the size of a bicycle. Its tail was far beyond the room and probably still outside. All of the inmates were as far back away from the bars separating them from the enormous creature as possible, shivering.

_All except Scarion, of course._

The fractured shape, despite the cries from the other members of the room, crouched down and reached out through the bars to touch it. The serpent paused its progression down the hall.

Its pointed head slithered over to him and gave the air an experimental taste, hissing softly. It raised it's neck and looked down at him, lashing its forked tongue out a second time.

Scarion gently placed his hand on its snout and it nuzzled his palm. He let out a chuckle as it hissed contentedly, pressing its heavy head against the warmth of his fingers. It's long tongue flicked against his hand, briefly showing its desk fan length fangs. He reached out his other hand under its chin and it mewled softly, tipping its head over and laying it upside down on the smooth floor.

" _It seems she's taken a liking to you._ "

An unnaturally tall square-based pyramid with a singular eye stepped into the space. He stood hunched over due to the ceiling being too low for him, staring at Scarion with mild curiosity. The indigo shape wondered how his spine coped with bending at a 90° angle like that. 

The pyramid's long black cloak obscured his form so that only his sleek black boots and his gloved hands were visible. Most of the inmates remained silent as he knelt down also, patting the body of the snake.

The circle pulled his hands away as the serpent slithered happily back to her master, her body moving fluidly as she flicked her tongue out at him in greeting. The prisoner stood up.

"Are you Barracuda by chance?"

The shape's eye widened in surprise before something seemed to click in his head.

"Ah, now I see why Blixer asked that I meet him here... _He's made a friend._ "

The pyramid's voice was smooth and soft, almost murmuring, yet it carried across the space loudly. It was eerie in a way. Barracuda hissed sharply and clicked with a nonexistent mouth (and tongue) 3 times. The enormous reptile was soon moving back over to Scarion and rearing her head in response. The scarred shape stared at her curiously.

"I would advise that you step back."

The fractured shape nodded and moved backwards. The snake then opened her jaws wide, exposing the rows of huge canines. Some of the other prisoners witnessing the interaction gasped and whispered at the sight of her deadly maw.

She inserted one of her largest teeth into the lock on the door, letting her tongue flop out. A violent hissing sound filled the air and it wasn't coming from the body of the giant reptile this time.

The snake removed her fang and door popped open, half dissolved metal dripping onto the floor.

_That is some powerful venom._

_More like acid..._

Scarion stepped over the melting metal on the ground and the serpent nuzzled his body. He chuckled and rubbed her triangular scales. She hissed delightedly and coiled a part of herself around him.

The circle jumped slightly as he turned and Barracuda had just appeared in front of him.

_For someone so large, he sure moves silently._

"Has Blixer spoken of me often?"

"N-No, not really. He did say that you're the type of person who would rather spend your life with snakes than actual people, though."

The pyramid chuckled.

"Perhaps."

Cuda "clicked his tongue" again and the snake began slithering off at an unnatural speed, the pyramid following after it. Many of the other prisoners were still cowering in fear but a few had come closer. Most were just talking or muttering as they passed.

Scarion began having trouble with keeping up with Barracuda's stupidly long strides and the snake's rapid slithering. The pyramid only huffed and seated him on the back of the serpent, who didn't seem to mind.

Any guards they encountered were quickly scared off by the speedy snake or thrown around by the small pyramids the snake lover conjured up from the floor. They made it outside completely unhindered and Scarion stepped off the reptile train as she slithered down a large open drain. The large serpent's body disappeared quickly into the hole and her tail followed suit.

Barracuda stood up straight, his spine clicking in several different places, showing his true height. Scarion blinked.

"Can she swim?"

"Of course. We live on an island."

_Now that made him feel stupid._

"Oh, ri-"

Another barrage of blue lasers rained down on them. Scarion yelped in an exceedingly manly way as Cuda summoned two of his own cannons. When he fired, the lazers weren't normal, they were more like sound bars and they made a small tune as they discharged.

Another bass cannon went off, pink this time, and the shape of the hour jumped down from the rooftop, passing the downed guards and caught a smaller shape as they followed after him.

Blixer strode towards them with a slightly crazed look in his eye, a spiked flower following behind him. The look softened as he calmed and the young teen rushed into the pyramid's arms. He had his guitar strapped to his back and a grey book in one hand.

The fractured shape only stared in shock as the once flower strode up to them. He definitely fit his reputation now. Fresh addressed the tallest in a lowered growly version of the scratchy, squeaky voice Scarion recognized.

"I see you made it."

"Do not underestimate my capabilities, Blixer. I'd never let myself get shattered."

"'Course not! I didn't expect anything less!"

The New Fresh chuckled and put a very stunned Scarion on his back.

" ** _Let's get out of here._** "

" _I don't think so._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, after this bit, I have no plot. I did not think this through so... Fuck it.


	23. I Told You To End It, It Was All For The Best (SO I HAVE YOU TO BLAME FOR THIS PAIN IN MY CHEST)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone needs a hug...
> 
> Even Cube.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Interlude IV - Zach Callison  
> (So fucking good)

_For fuck's sake-_

_"_ As Protectors of this Paradise, we will not allow you to harm any more innocents with a second Pink Corruption."

The "corrupted" shapes all rolled their eyes, Blixer huffing a laugh and Barracuda staring at the heroes with a bored expression.

_Yeah, like they were ever going to try **that** again._

"Surrender now, or _face the consequences_."

_Ooh, how very scary!_

The blue square spoke loudly, his tone ringing with irritation and authority, but Blixer couldn't care less. He knew they weren't too serious so he wasn't as bothered by them ~~even if they did, essentially, kill him.~~ Barracuda quirked a brow.

""Consequences", you say? What kind?"

There was a smile in his voice; he spoke to the younger shapes as though he were entertaining small children who thought they were tough. Don't get him wrong, the pyramid knew they were powerful beyond belief but... 

_They were still young and childis-_

" _ **This kind.**_ "

A buzzsaw whistled past Cuda's head, clipping one of his points and causing him to flash white with damage. His large form jolted back and he stumbled precariously.

"Cuda!"

The young flower rushed to help the shape regain his balance, Scarion joining him. The snake keeper let out a loud hiss of pain and angrily spat out a name with as much venom as he could muster.

_" **Cube**."_

The cube in question stepped out of her little hidey-hole and in between the two parties. Blixer narrowed his eye as she made herself comfortable in the tense atmosphere. She stopped and cleared her throat before speaking.

"...I heard you changed your name to "Barracuda"... I preferred your old one... Less dramatic and more fitting."

The pyramid's eye narrowed and his back straightened as he stood up properly. Lycan glared at Cube fiercely and the fractured shape stayed close to the sphere.

" _Your preferences mean **nothing** to me, **traitor**._"

"Hm... Perhaps not..."

Blixer stepped forward, putting the others behind him. He glared, his fangs making an appearance as he snarled.

"I refuse to let you imprison them, nor will I let you imprison me a third time."

Cube sighed and summoned her industrial claws, the king raising his own claws in response. She shook her head in disappointment.

"Well then, _it looks like we're going to have a rematch_."

Blixer smirked, stepping forward.

" _And this time, it'll be a **fair fight**._"

A smaller hand rested on his shoulder and he tensed, his features falling neutral.

"Blixer, no-"

The latter ignored Scarion's pleas, choosing to address Cuda instead.

"Take them both and go, I'll catch up once I'm done here. I take it that the location hasn't changed?"

The latter frowned and sighed.

"If you get caught again, I swear to the Tree, I am not saving you. Meet us at the Flames of Valiant and you better all be there."

Cube's eyes narrowed. She'd never heard of such a place. The name must be of the Old Time, there's no other explanation for it, and leave it to her to not remember a thing. Her heroes seemed just as curious as she.

The ~~cat-eared~~ horned shape shrugged with a smile.

"Guess I just have to not lose, then. I'll see you there."

Barracuda huffed a laugh.

" **You better not.** "

_And with that they were gone._

The scene around them faded into darkness an he clenched his fists as he turned back to face his adversary. Cube raised her head, as though to look down upon him with distain, even if he was far taller.

"In few moment's time, the heroes will finally subdue them and no one will have to worry about the threat of Pink again."

Blixer's ears lowered and a growl escaped him.

" _Not if I get to them in time!"_

The pink shape felt the air shift and Close To Me began playing, skipping straight into the drop. The distorted vocals rang through his core as he glared at the fucking _bitch_ across from him. Cube lifted herself up and pulled up a massive wall of blue energy with her claws.

Blixer felt his own core song jump in at the same time as Cube's, playing from the beginning like that of a shape who's _sane_. The cube dropped her wall and he dove out of the way of the summoned saws, shooting a few small projectiles from his ~~ears~~ horns, most of which, unsurprisingly, missed. The ones that landed left pink stains on her exposed skin.

Cube sent huge blue buzzsaws at him, the spinning blades meandering at high speed. The spray of small spheres they left in their wake drifted out, filling most of the space and leaving no room for a response. Blixer curled his larger arms around himself, the blue projectiles bouncing off the magenta spikes. He winced each time he was hit, the toxic energy leaving a searing ache where it touched him.

"The Tree is far more powerful than you'll ever be! You'll never win!"

Blixer hissed in pain and fury.

"But my devotion to my people and my determination to set them free is _far greater_! For as long as I am alive, _I will not stop_!"

Through his anger, he failed to notice the small flinch Cube gave to his words. Her facade was cracked.

The blue shape's form glitched and a massive cog came barreling towards him. Blixer dove out of the way, his melody finally mixing with Close To Me and giving him more freedom of movement. Without the melody, he was restricted to dodging from a more fixed point, now he could attack and defend as he pleased.

Cube appeared again and brought up another wall of neon sapphire with her claws, slamming it down on him again and forcing him to evade the saws. Close To Me came down from the high of the drop and settled on a simpler tune while Long Live The New Fresh was entering the build.

The New Fresh in question lifted his head and began drawing pink energy out of the void through his eye, letting stray bits smack the other out of spite for what happened last time, interrupting the small break she was having. He heard her yell at him to cut it out over the music and smiled, knowing that she was pissed.

The smoother voice echoed over the top of Cube's vocalist's melodic screaming as scaling electronic bursts of sound made themselves acquainted with the soft, deep, buzzing bass line.

_And they sounded... pretty good together..._

Blixer's drop hit and Cube pulled up a wall. The king sent two shockwaves at it from punching the floor. The barrier shattered and he ran at her, bringing an onslaught of lasers with him. Circles exploded around the cube as she sent out more buzzsaws, dodging the bursts of pink energy to the best of her ability.

Blixer curled his larger arms around himself a second time, bracing himself for the agony. When it came, it was worse than last time. He winced a little, waiting for the unyielding pain to stop. Once it did, the sphere used the feeling of the blue energy corroding his skin to center himself in the duel.

In retaliation for another round of that bullshit, he fired one of his arms off. The explosion afterward knocked her upwards into the void. The sphere summoned another pair and had them swirl around him as extra protection while his main pair hung idle on his back.

As the main melody of Long Live The New Fresh rolled in, it contested against the heavy synth Close To Me brought with it. The two songs were in sync, each bar parrying the other's as they fought for dominance.

As he fired another limb at her, her body reformed midair. The large cog came hurtling towards him, riding on the momentum of gravity and the second explosion. The king dodged out of the way, firing off another arm which disrupted her attack.

She crashed back into the ground and quickly got back up, wiping away the turquoise that escaped her lips. His brow twitched. Cube raised yet another barrier and Blixer smashed it effortlessly, evading the falling buzzsaws.

He soon regretted this decision.

His hand burned as white hot fire entered his bloodstream. Blue energy coated his three larger fingers, and streaks of pink were showing through from where it had eaten through his skin. Pink blood dripped into the loud darkness and Blixer huffed.

_This was bad, very... V-Very bad._

_He needed to... needed to finish this... pronto... before he gets... gets purified..._

The New Fresh could barely think with the pain travelling up his spiked arm. He fell to one knee, clutching his arm. He couldn't fire the afflicted limb off, it was part of his main pair. But the-

_A buzzing ripped across his body._

Familiar electronic sounding white noise echoed around him. Blixer's form was thrown backwards and off of his feet by an unknown force. His eye widened and his core song exploded into a cacophony of ringing synth.

_N-No..._

There was a record scratching noise and the void disappeared. His body flew through the air a few meters and hit the main fence of the prison. He slumped at the base of the meshed wire, unable to move.

_No, he didn't want to go back..._

Magma erupted from his abdomen and pure horror graced his face. Shivers wracked his body as what happened slowly occurred to him. He clutched his side and looked down.

_Please, no!_

There was blue energy stained on the wound and mixed with his pink blood. He could feel the hole in his stomach drip his fluids onto the tarmac. Blixer could only watch, petrified out of his mind, as a soft baby blue began creeping across his pink flesh.

_Cube had..._

_Sh-Shit..._

He breathed heavily and irregularly, panicking slightly at the sight of gore and blue on his person. Sure, he'd seen deep below his own skin before, but he didn't quite remember the first time. Blixer felt tears stream down his face but he didn't seem to register the pain.

_He needed to go... Now..._

Fresh gasped as he heard more of his insides splatter onto the blue-green grass as he attempted to sit up. His head spun and his vision blurred. He cursed and yanked off his vest, tying it around his wound. Blixer tried not to scream as he did so.

With the risk of dying marginally decreased and the amount of agony he was in drastically increased, the king shakily made his way onto his feet, clutching his stomach all the while. He resisted the urge to vomit and hobbled his way away from the void entrance. Wheezing, he raised his injured spiked claws and swung himself over the fence, using the second pair to cushion his fall.

Blixer could feel the toxins flowing through him, burning him inside out, mutating him cell by cell. It made it all the more painful.

" _I'm sorry... For not being strong enough to stand by your side... Brother._ "

One of Blixer's ears perked up at Cube's small voice. Her mask was gone and he could see the genuine fear in her eyes.

" _Go, before It realizes._ "

The New Fresh looked back at her, eye softened with worry. She turned away with a firm nod and the taller shuffled to his feet. He stumbled away from her a few paces before stopping.

"... You... are more... than... s-strong enough to... stand by me...... **S-Sister**... Don't be afraid... of who... y-you are..."

Blixer extended his main pair of clawed arms, latching onto the buildings nearby, his feet wedged into the soft earth. He paused again to see Cube sobbing silently. The pink shape's gaze hardened and he nodded her a subtle farewell.

"... I... am sure... that... you know it... too..."

Jumping, he slingshotted himself into the night, falling through the air at speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :(
> 
> A/N: A reference to the CTM/LLTNF mashup I used https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eP4I3kv1uA0 (in case you want to listen)
> 
> ((I wrote this at 3am, don't judge my poor grammar


	24. Who am I? (Someone That's Afraid Of Letting Go)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mind is a curious thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: SAD! - XXXTentacion
> 
> ((Idk anymore

Hell's Point, formerly known as the Flames of Valiant, was a small but treacherous region of towering spiked rocks. Located on the south side of the Volcano, the area most certainly lived up to its name.

It was infested with serpents and glowed a hellish, fiery red at night from the molten rock flowing through. The spears of igneous stone were falling every few weeks, mainly due to the bases melting from the heat and failing to support their own weight.

The inhospitality of the environment there made it a dangerous place and the mere sight of the deadly towering spires was enough to put many a shape off. Barracuda also spent most of his time with the snakes inhabiting the area, befriending and looking after them.

 _It_ _made for the perfect cover and great defense_.

The actual base was below ground in a complex network of caves, most of which were filled with lava or noxious gases, except the select few Cuda had chosen to live in and was currently sharing with however many Tracks that had survived. He'd constructed vents and dug tunnels to, not only divert the flow of gas and magma, but to allow the seawater in around the caves to cool the space.

_It was smart and effective..._

_But damn was it difficult to get to._

In one last push against his exhaustion, Blixer made it to the outcrop as his body finally failed him. He clutched his wound pathetically as his form lay sprawled out on a fallen jagged rock, the waves of the ocean licking the soles of his feet. The blinding pain in his side, arms and coursing through his veins was one of the only thing letting him know that he was still alive.

He could feel the blistering heat radiating off of the vents in the slopes of the Volcano and the steam that filled the air where the lava touched the sea. His larger arms refused to de-summon, the injuries sustained to them too great to allow them to go into "storage".

It was only a matter of time before the blue energy reached his mind and killed him with his own memories.

_But he wasn't exactly the kind of guy to roll over and let it happen._

Blixer kept a hand firmly clamped over his stomach and slowly picked himself back up. His legs trembled before he collapsed again, landing heavily on his knees. Fresh panted, steadying himself with his free hand. He looked at his larger hands, the arm looked like it was sinking into a vat of sapphire paint mottled with orange juice.

The energy was spreading quicker than he had thought.

He pushed himself up onto the claws, trying to ignore the fact that there was a pale indigo puddle below him. Blixer's vision swam as he took a few steps, dark spots impeding on his sight. The world spun and he realized that he wasn't going to get out of this. Rock met his face once more and he found that he couldn't get back up.

The king's breathing became laboured, coughing every few seconds. His limbs became heavy and he closed his eye. He sputtered and rolled onto his back, his blood steadily dripping away.

_Well shit._

_Looks like he's going to die here..._

_Isn't this a lovely place to go, then?_

_Hehe...he..._

...

**_Oh fuck, he was going to die._ **

_He couldn't, not now..._

_They were still trapped, he can't give up!_

_He still..._

_Ugh!_

_Dammit._

_..._

_Well..._

_Uhm..._

_He hopes that Cube would someday see reason under all that stubborn loyalty and fear..._

_That he doesn't meet Scarion on the other side until at least 50 years had gone past..._

_And that Cuda finds that little snake that kept "biting" everyone in the middle of the night that one time, even if that snake isn't so little anymore._

_Heh._

_He'd never heard **him** scream so high pitched before..._

_He missed **him**..._

_He wondered if **he'd** missed him back._

_._

_._

_._

The last thing Blixer could comprehend before losing consciousness was a faint hissing.

_[ **13** **Years Ago** ]_

_Spherion scrambled away from the interface, his mind reeling._

_He fell backwards, tripping over himself and scuttling further away from the computer as though he could run from what was written clearly in the 15th entry._

It all made sense now...

Why he couldn't remember anything from past 3 years ago.

Why his pendant held a faint sentiment.

Why he felt the unease he did, fighting on the Mountain.

And it was **sickening**.

_His lungs heaved as he stared at the holographic display._

_He lifted his hand to his chest to rest on the crystal tucked under his uniform._

_Bile churned uncomfortably in his stomach and his heart thundered in his "ears"._

_Seph sat like that for awhile, struggling to process what he'd just read._

_Tears began to build up and he let them fall freely._

Tree, he wanted to vomit.

 _Unable to bear the thought of ritualistic sacrifice,_ _he logged out of the Archives._

_Making his way back to his room, his legs feeling heavy and his heart heavier, he lost himself in thought._

_The corridors were a blur, his mind completely unfocused._

Who was he previously?

What happened to him?

Why him?

_The sphere was brought back to reality when he closed his door behind him._

_The orange hero leaned against the wood and clutched the sides of his head in his hands._

_He barely noticed his back sliding down the door and landing on the floor with a dull thump._

_Droplets of water splashed onto the varnished wood, falling from nonexistent eyes._

_He brought his hands in front of him and stared at the ~~otherworldly~~ **unnatural** glow._

_Anger bubbled in his soul as he reread the words in his mind and he swore..._

He was **never** going to forgive what had been done to him.

_. . . . ._

_Midnight once more._

_The City is busy as usual._

_Unsuspecting as usual._

_A dark shadow flits across the city, never staying in one place for more than a fraction of a second._

_It jumped impossible distances and weaved through buildings like a fast flowing river._

_Spherion was headed for the Western Face. He needed to speak with the Mountain Dwellers, to let them know that they had an ally on the inside, to get some answers as to who he was._ _The cloaked sphere jumped onto the roof of a shuttle, his feet landing without sound, and hitched a ride through the Ocean District. Wind ruffled the black material draped over his dark attire and sent evening chills across his skin._

He quite liked that.

_Jumping off the roof as the carriages turned towards the Marsh district, he flew up into the clouds, the black helping to concealed the clementine glow of his energy. Snow began appearing before Seph as the ridge where they fought came into view and the temperature plummeted._

_The sphere touched down on the ledge and immediately dashed into the cave. Ducking behind a rock, he suppressed his energy as a Treeangle shard floated past. It was scanning the area for any stray energies besides its own. The Tree didn't want to risk putting guards up there anymore and so put in its own sentinels._

It must really not want anyone getting in or out, enough to distrust any more of its people to keep the pink shapes secured.

_Once out of range, Seph continued his journey deeper into the cavern, making sure to Dash instead of walk just in case the Treeangle could detect footprints. The cave grew darker and darker, the deeper he went which made him wonder how far in the tunnel went. A blue glow up ahead alerted him of another shard and he stopped behind another stalagmite._

_Spherion buried his aura as it rounded a corner and drifted past him. It didn't falter or hesitate so he assumed it didn't notice him. While it floated up the tunnel, the orange shape carried on, weaving through the pillars of rock this time, swiping away his footprints as he went._

_The shard disappeared completely and he dashed round the corner. There, he was met with a thick barrier of white energy. It crackled softly before him, stretching the wide expanse of the mouth of an enormous cave that could easily give way to 100 desperate shapes. Twisted and broken metal poles were clinging onto the rock around it; they must have been damaged in the explosion._ _Spherion grumbled, floating gently._

This was going to be a problem.

_Seph couldn't dash through it without alerting the Tree and dashing through the rock could kill him if he didn't go far enough or if a pink shape found him on the other side. He huffed and flew up to the top of the barrier(*), observing the rock._

_The sphere ran his hand up the rough surface, noticing the way it caved inwards. He drifted down a little and tried to get a look and a feel for that particular spot._

Yeah...

He could probably Dash through that...

_Noticing a soft, faint blue glow out of the corner of his eye, Spherion took a deep breath and tapped into his core to use some energy. He lined himself up and released the breath. With that, he cut off his sight and **moved**._

_Feeling his body pass through a solid object was a feeling Seph would never get used to._

_Upon entering the Mountain, he "opened his eyes", shivering violently, and swooped down behind a stalagmite, diminishing the traces of energy left on him. The little glowing spheres that followed his trail blipped out of existence altogether as Spherion continued to shudder._

_He waited with baited breath as the shard lingered at the barrier a moment..._

_The shard carried on and disappeared up the tunnel._

_Spherion sighed, relieved and, once the blue glow dissipated, flew up to the spot he dashed through. He drew the Pink Leader's knife from his belt and carved a large_ "X" _into the rock. Once satisfied he'd scored the mark deep enough, he returned the dagger to his side, landed on the ground and began his trek into the glorified prison._

_As he walked further in, more and more riyou diamonds began appearing all over the place. Seph pulled his pendant out from his black attire and ran his thumb over it as he walked._

Well, that explained one thing.

_Bright flashes of a violent pink assaulted his vision from the end of the tunnel. The sound of heavy bass echoed off the walls, in time with the pulses of the toxic magenta. Spherion began to sweat anxiously, the vaguely subtle familiarity of the atmosphere was unsettling._

_About to reach the source of the commotion, Seph felt a thin blade press against his spine forcefully. He winced and raised his hands slowly._

"Who are you?! What is your business here? _"_

Ah... Now that's convenient!

_"I'm here to talk to you actually... and to return this."_

_The Pink Leader lowered her rapier as the sphere held up the knife for her to take. There was a beat of silence._

_"_ **You** _."_

_"Who else?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (*) Shut up, I know this sounds like Undertale. Its NOT.  
> 
> 
> A/N:
> 
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
> 
> Sorry this took me so long  
> (T-T)  
> It shouldn't have!  
> I now have a plot and I'm sorry if its sloppy
> 
> ((Also:  
> Me: *realizes people are subscribing to my works and to me*  
> Me: *surprised pikachu face*  
> Also me: *cries*
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos too! It means a lot to know that people enjoy my work! :D


	25. Can You Tell Me Who You Are? Can You Tell Me Where I Am? (I've Forgotten How To See, I've Forgotten If I Can)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Revelations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Bad Apple!! - ZUN (RichaadEB Metal Cover)

_"You've got a lot of nerve coming here,_ boy _."_

_The Pink Leader paused momentarily as she wrapped her fingers around the small blade before snatching it from Seph's hand and pocketing it away in her brown cloak._

_"Your arm has healed already... I can't say I'm surprised, given that the Tree created you as false gods-"_

_"False **gods** , seriously?!-"_

_"Why are you here,_ boy _? I assume it is not to mock me."_

_Spherion hesitantly lowered his hands and pulled down his hood. He wrapped a hand around his wrist and rubbed the pale scar_

_"I... I want answers, firstly."_

_The swordswoman hummed thoughtfully and began circling him ominously, but the sphere strangely did not fear her. Her eyes(?) seemed to linger on the pendant resting against his chest._

_"...I can answer lots of questions about many things... But you'll have to be more specific than that."_

_Seph clenched his fists._

_"I have... reason to believe that I was-... I was once one of you. I was hoping that you might be able to tell me who I might have been..."_

_The Pink Leader stopped in front of him with a sigh._

_"I suspected as much... Come. I will take us somewhere more private to converse."_

_The sphere nodded and pulled up his hood, following her long strides as the Leader entered the gargantuan cavern that housed towering metal constructs and enormous corrupted crystals that poked out of the stone at many different angles. There were holes in the walls where some shapes were living, and they were using the diamonds poking out of the rock as steps to get up to them._

_Looking up, there were many platforms high above, built among the crystals with what looked to be plants growing on them. Moonlight was refracted from a skylight above and shone across the small city, coating the harsh fuchsia with a pale white._

It would have been an amazing sight...

Had the pink inhabitants not been preparing for an all out **war**.

_The flashes of magenta and heavy bass bursting through the tunnels was from target practice. Many shapes were being trained on how to use their bass cannons or abilities. Others were building armour and other weapons from the ore deep inside the mountain._

_"Try to keep up."_

_The Pink Leader drew Seph's attention away from the scene in front to him and back to her as she jumped from the ledge, down onto the crystalline platform below them. The sphere huffed a laugh._

_"Like I'll have any trouble doing that."_

_Leaping off, Seph landed smoothly and sprinted after her. The leader then jumped from the platform and onto the steel coloured roof of a tall settlement. The pair ran along the large metal plates, just as many other pink shapes were doing, jumping over narrow gaps and swinging from rails implemented for such purposes._

_Spherion couldn't help but feel the subtle familiarity of it all. The rush of adrenaline from falling through the air and running through open spaces._

The feeling of **belonging**.

_He turned his head towards the sound of whooping as 5 shapes around his age tumbled through the air and latched onto poles, swinging themselves back up to do flips and tricks as they seemed to head towards what looked like training grounds. The air was alive and awake, restless._

_The Pink Leader abruptly changed course, turning sharply into a small square where a large domed building made of solid brown stone resided. The swordswoman jogged up to the entrance and stepped inside. Seph followed cautiously, unsure of how to act._

_Inside, the pink shape greeted the spiked hexagon behind the desk, who smiled and nodded at her. The cloaked hero hurried behind her, sticking to her side. The older huffed a laugh and pushed the double doors before them open, revealing a long corridor with a multitude of rooms along the sides._

_Not wasting any time, the pink shape pushed forwards with long strides. Spherion piped up anxiously._

_"Hey, uh... Where are we going?"_

_"The Council."_

_Seph paused in the middle of the walkway._

_"But... You said that we were going somewhere more private?"_

_"Yes, we are. This building is one of the most private places in Mountain's Heart."_

_"...When people say "private" they usually mean " alone" as in "no other shapes", and I assumed that we were just going to talk, y'know, without an audience?"_

_The corrupted shape stilled before she grabbed the handle to pull the enormous doors at the end of the corridor open. She turned to look back at him through her one-way visor._

_"_ Then you assumed wrong _."_

_Yanking on the thick metal rings, the two ebony black doors flew open as the Pink Leader strode into the Hall of the Council with an air of smugness. Pulling off her helmet, the magenta sphere kneeled before the well dressed shapes who were seated above them._

_"Greetings, my lords and ladies."_

_The was an edge of a smile in her voice. The large pentagon in the middle stood up and Seph took a step back as his heavy gaze rested upon him. The orange sphere shuffled uncomfortably as the Chairman grumbled._

_"...General..."_

_The latter tucked her headpiece under her arm and got to her feet, her black armor clinking softly._

_"My lord, as you can see, the Sentinel of Orange has come back for answers as I had previously predicted."_

_Spherion stared at her indignantly before turning back to the imposing lord. The pentagon seemed to deflate for a second before straightening up once more. Seph huffed and pulled off his black cloak, earning a few whispers from around the court. The sphere bowed shortly before speaking._

_"I... I just want to know who I was or perhaps who I am... and, in exchange... if you'll have me, I want to help you get your freedom... I want to make sure you make it to the surface... I don't want to witness or be part of another massacre of your people."_

_The General's brows went up and the Council began to chatter amongst themselves. The Chairman hummed in thought but was quickly cut-_

_" **You're lying.** "_

_Silence abruptly reigned over the room with a stifling chokehold on all its occupants as all eyes turned to the spiked rhombus sitting near the back. The older shape stood up, trembling with..._ rage _._

_" **You don't care about us. None** of you do... As soon as you get what you want you're going to leave us to rot, **just like last time...** "_

_She glared at him viciously, her eyes overflowing with tears._

_"But you speak some truth when you call what happened that day a massacre... **Because it was!** You **slaughtered** **all of** **them!!** "_

_Spherion began to panic internally as the horrors committed by his siblings returned to him, swallowing up any hopes of success he might have had._

_**"** My **son** was one of those soldiers!!"_

_Her voice grew louder as she grew more furious. A searing ache developed in Spherion's soul, tearing his chest apart._

Her... son...

Reduced to nothing but shards in the snow _._

_The urge to vomit surfaced._

_" **Did you even think twice when you**_ **murdered** _**him??!!** "_

_The orange shape took another shaky step back, water running down his face. The Chairman raised a hand to silence her._

_"That is enough, Lady Dolva... As we have discussed, the boy is just another victim-"_

_" **No, my lord, it is not, and I shall not be silenced again. This foul creature before you has committed crimes beyond** **forgiveness!!** "_

_Many other council members had become unsettled, muttering and whispering between themselves. The pentagon began to look nervous as well, his stoic mask slipping a little._

_**"It is born of that cursed Tree and is so using its Influence to tempt us all into believing its lies!! But I see through what you cannot!! I see the monster covered in the blood of the innocent whom I shall now lay to rest!! I shall destroy one of the 4 great evils of this world.**"_

_Lady Dolva pulled a long, spear like knife from her black robes and lifted it high for all in the room to see. Using her abilities, she drew pink energy from her surroundings and infused it into the blade, causing it to glow a luminous fuchsia._

_A familiar tingling rattled urgently tickled the back of Seph's mind but..._

He couldn't bring himself to move.

_The Pink General began asserting herself as some of the other lords and ladies began shouting at one another. The room kept growing more heated._

_The Lady Dolva pulled back her arm..._

_" **This. This is for my people and my child, you bastard.**"_

And let the weapon fly.

.

.

.

_Spherion fell to his knees._

_He couldn't see._

_He couldn't taste, smell or hear either._

_But the **pain**._

_His being was ripping itself apart shard by shard._

This was **not** how his siblings had described death _._

_Seph could feel himself screaming, crying out, but it was different somehow._

_It felt more... natural_

_A blanket of sorts fell away from him and he could suddenly sense again._

_The first thing he noticed was that he could blink._

_Like he had **eye.**_

_The second thing was his hearing._

_It was deafening everywhere._

_People were..._

_People were_ screaming _._

Oh god what's happening?!

_The third thing he noticed was the panic ensuing around him. The General was looking at him, absolutely horrified, maybe a little remorseful. The Council was in shambles and the Lady Dolva was balling her eyes out while staring at him._

_The last thing he noticed..._

_Looking downwards, he found the knife that had been thrown at his head, surrounded by orange shards and a few drops of magenta blood. Seph reached out curiously to pick them up when he noticed his vibrant clementine was quickly being replaced by a toxic pink._

_Seph's new eyes drifted back to the shards._

Oh...

O-Oh fuck...

Oh fuck, that's his...

_His pink hands shook as he picked up the same blank face that always stares back at him when he looked in the mirror._

_Scrambling away with newfound terror, he Dashedfrom the building, an explosion of hot magenta in his wake. He couldn't tell where he was going, what was going on but he knew that he needed to get out of there. Seph's speed faltered, however, when white hot agony erupted from his brain. His body stalled and rolled across the metal surface of some building or structure._

_Spherion clutched his forehead, feeling his new **eye** and his jaw filled with sharp teeth as he did._

What. Happened. To. Him.

_Seph faintly felt a small pair of ears flicking against his aching head, enforcing the already settling fearful confusion. He whimpered quietly (though it sounded like he was shouting to him) and pulled himself away the edge of the roof he found himself on._

_Cracking his eye open, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a window nearby._

_He immediately knew who it was looking back at him._

_The pain blinded him and he screamed-_

Blixer awoke with a loud shout, his chest feeling weighted. His lungs stuttered and he dry heaved over the side of the bed. His head swam and his eye teared up while his claws dug into the soft mattress.

A sob tore itself from him as the door quickly swung open. Fresh hugged his side as it ached, not fully paying attention to the newcomer. Long arms wrapped around him and Blixer found himself crying into Cuda's chest not a moment later. The arms tightened their hold on him as the smaller gripped his night shirt.

"I-It _hurts_...!"

"I know, Blix, I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.


	26. Lock The Doors And Close The Blinds (We're Going For A Ride)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ..... Shenanigans, anyone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters

"You did _what_ , exactly?"

"..."

"Well?"

A deep inhale.

A sharp exhale.

"I may have broken the computer."

.

.

.

"You- _**Ugh!!** Do you know how **hard** it was to build that thin-_"

"Its not "broken" broken, its just... Uh..."

"Its just what??!"

"Its just got a little virus... That's all!"

"..."

"I-I can fix it for you!"

". . ."

.

.

.

" _Move before I flip my shit._ "

"I'll just go then."

Cheat Codes lent against the wall as he watched the scene before him unfold from behind a steaming mug of coffee. Cool Friends tried to download some random stuff from a bogus site on PolyNet(*) and ended up putting a virus on Try This's computer. Cool is currently on the run (pun absolutely intended).

Codes sipped his warm beverage as Try began screeching like a banshee on steroids.

_He officially loves mornings._

"Hey Codes!"

"Mornin' Lunar! Care to watch the show with me?"

The fellow square lent beside him with her own mug, filled with a sweet herbal tea. She took a sip before speaking.

"Hm. What's he even angry about anyway?"

"Cool Friends put a virus on his computer."

"Oh... Well... That wouldn't be that big of a deal if that wasn't the only usable computer in the base..."

The fizzling shape turned to her, mildly shocked.

"Wait, what?"

"Lycanthropy helped him build that one and another one is being repaired as we speak. All the others were destroyed in the tower's collapse."

"..."

"..."

"Lycan's going to be so pissed."

"Cool and Try will never hear the end of it."

The Tracks shared a short glance and clinked their mugs together with a smile.

" _And we shall drink to that._ "

Lunar chuckled softly while the other sipped more of his coffee.

" **I CAN FUCKING HEAR YOU TWO, YOU KNOW!!!** "

_. . . . ._

"I had it first!"

"No, you didn't! You were chatting with Chip! In fact, you weren't even chatting! He was asleep!"

"Yeah, but before that I grabbed it out of the cupboard!"

"You're lying! You weren't even near the-"

"Ugh!! What are you two arguing about now?!"

The Clash twins looked at each other in panic and hid the deluxe bar of chocolate behind their backs. They sat up on Ash's bed nicely and smiled innocently up at Cascade. Clay giggled nervously.

"Nooooothing!"

"Nothing you need to worry about!"

" _It is 7 in the morning!! How can I not??_ "

Ash tugged the confectionery towards herself, her circular brother's grip on it slipping. She spoke up again.

"Oopsie! Then, I'll make sure my _dear_ sibling here, keeps the noise to a minimum!

Said sibling yanked the chocolate out of his square counterpart's hold and spoke with an artificial sweetness through gritted teeth.

"Haha! Only if my sister keeps her mitts off of what isn't hers!"

Ash pulled the bar back towards her.

"Speak for yourself, _brother_! Ahaha!"

" _Why don't you?_ "

"I am able control myself!"

"No, you _can't-_!"

Clay tore the chocolate out of her hand and it dropped onto the floor of their "shared" bedroom. All heads whipped around to stare at the exposed confectionery.

A tense silence.

The twins slowly turned back to Cassie, whose face was now covered by a dark shadow. They began to inch away as square shooting stars swirled around her form.

" **Oh, the _irony._** _"_

_. . . . ._

Art Of War and Sevcon wordlessly twirled around each other in a synchronized fashion. Both held grace in every leap, careful to make sure each movement was precise and in reflection to their partner. Barracuda wasn't there to supervise their training at the moment so they were warming up with an improvised dance.

The pair caught themselves up in a gentle waltz and swayed softly, spinning slowly. Music wasn't needed when both shapes were born of sound and emotion. As their dance became more erratic, their waltz seemed to evolve into a sort of freestyle contemporary ballet.

The air around them shifted dramatically as Sevcon took Arty into a one armed lift, accelerating their spin just a fraction. Their bodies never once faltered, nor became unbalanced by one another while one was held high. The silence never once broke as the lead let his partner touch the solid earth once more. Poised and correctly postured, their spins continued.

The Tracks drew away as their twirls became pirouettes. As they were spinning, they developed an orbit, pulling closer until they were embraced by their other half. Sevcon pulled Arty close to his side and leaned him backwards gently. Art Of War's back arched over his arm as they ended in their final positions.

"You're beautiful dancers."

Both shapes snapped up and looked to the hexagon that had impeded on their artwork. The intruder advanced into the space as Sevcon addressed her.

"And I've heard that you are quite stunning in your element yourself. Good morning, Spectra."

"And morning to you too... I... don't suppose you'd be open to letting me join you?"

Arty shut his singular eye as he gave a short bow.

"Of course. You're welcome to dance with us anytime."

Spectra smiled in gratitude and the three began to construct their piece.

. . . . .

"Hey Shock!"

The mildly distorted voice broke the spiked shape from her slumber. Termination Shock rolled onto her back and sat up from her bed.

"Mmh... I swear to all things good if I get woken up for another stupid fucking reason, I'll start a fucking-Oh. Substep? Uh... Did you need something?"

The cube stood over her with a mischievous smirk.

"Are you aware that Clash stole from Cascade?"

.

.

.

"One... How _the fuck_ would I be aware of that if I just woke up. Two, I don't give a shit about them. And three, fuck off so I can go back to sleep, its too early for this bullshit."

Shock lay back down, pulling the brown covers over her head with a frustrated huff.

"They stole her chocolate."

The duvet was off in a flash and the sphere was hurriedly putting on her dressing gown. Dubwoofer Substep broke down into fits of laughter as the normally stoic shape was filled with childlike glee.

"Fuck, I gotta see this! Where are they?"

"-ahaha! R-Room 23! Hahahahah!"

Termination Shock left the room in a flash, leaving the cube to drown in his own hysteria.

And was Termination Shock thinking about stopping this madness before it got out of hand?

_Of course not._

. . . . .

Unlocked, Into The Zone and Vindicate Me were chilling in the hot springs that morning, cups of coffee set to the side for afterwards.

"Dude... This water is like... really rad..."

"Mm...You can say that again..."

"..."

"..."

"...Do you ever think... about how... Barracuda eats, speaks and breathes?"

"All the time, dude."

"I thought that was just me..."

"Can he use telepathy?"

"I don't know, man... That's kinda... outta this paradigm, bruh..."

"Hmm... What if... What if his mouth was... on the underside of his head?..."

"..."

"Bruh."

"We just... never fuckin' noticed..."

"That doesn't make sense though..."

"I don't even wanna think... about that."

"No one does..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Then WHY THE FUCK DID YOU ASK THE FUCKING QUESTION?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh. Don't ask.
> 
> (*) PolyNet is the shape version of the Internet if you didn't get it


	27. The Joy And The Chaos, The Demons We're Made Of (I'd Be So Lost If You Left Me Alone)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone needs more hugs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Hold On - Chord Overstreet  
> (This song is really fucking depressing, so don't listen to it if you can get triggered easily or at all)

Logic Gatekeeper, Chronos and Milky Ways were curled against the wall outside of the last bedroom. Blixer had been unconscious for a few days and the amount of Pure energy in his system could spell disaster for any chance of him waking up.

As much as the other Bosses tried to get them to leave, leaving their king's side was an order they could never comply with, no matter who gave it.

Logic's head was hug low, his staff plunged deeply into the rock beside him. His knuckles had turned white with how hard he was gripping the weapon. He was weary, drained. The Gatekeeper was there from the beginning and he'll be damned if he left now, so close to what could be the end.

Chronos was bored. But he wasn't uncaring. He'd stuck by Blixer no matter through thick and thin and in turn, the Boss taught him how to control his bouts of chaotic bloodlust... Those teachings had saved him from a lot more trouble than he'd liked to admit. Summoning a small spiked ball, he bounced it on the floor and let it hit the wall before catching it as it returned to him. He repeated the process absently.

Milky Ways swore to himself that he wouldn't cry again. Not for anything or anyone. But here he was, silently balling his eyes out from behind his dark sunglasses for a self sacrificial idiot.

_Why did he have to go and get himself shot?!_

_And with blue energy of all things!_

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

Ways got up and stared at the wall opposite, furiously wiping away tears, bumping the shades out of the way. He tried to ignore how his legs trembled under his own weight as he took a step forward.

With a watery war cry, he slammed his already bloodied fist into the rock, creating the seventh dent in the stone. Chronos paused his throwing and catching to look up at his peer sadly, while Logic remained still. The more active Track sighed.

"Like I've said before, punching the wall will get you nowhere."

The spiked flower resumed bouncing the projectile as Ways glared at the rock in front of him.

"He's a _fucking_ asshole for doing us like this."

Chronos laughed but it sounded strained and dry.

"Amen to that!"

Logic grunted in agreement from beside him, the grip on his staff tightening even more. He hadn't said a word since Blixer was found, not that he says much anyway. Still, it was mildly concerning. But Logic is mildly concerning on a daily basis so, nothing new there.

Milky Ways slumped back against the wall he was facing and wrapped his arms around his knees.

An uneasy silence drifted between the trio. Ways spike again.

"Do you think he'll be alright?"

Chronos let out a long overdramatic groan.

"Come on, Milky, get your head out of your ass. It's Blixer you're talking about! Of course he'll be fine! He's too bloody stubborn to die now..."

"...... I thought I asked you not to call me that. **Ever**."

"Heh... _No promises_ ~"

Logic huffed a laugh at that, prompting Ways to squawk indignantly.

"You are both _insufferable_ _little_ -"

The door clicked open and Barracuda stepped out, an exhausted look in his eye. The Tracks quickly scrambled to attention as the Boss's piercing gaze locked on them.

"He's awake."

The was an odd rasp in the pyramid's voice which offered the shapes no comfort. Cuda turned away.

"But be careful with him. The toxin did a number on his head as well as his body."

As the Boss walked briskly away, the Tracks turned to the cracked open door, sharing worried glances. They stepped into the dimly lit room cautiously and approached Fresh, who was propped up on his pillows. His larger pair of arms were resting comfortably on pillows placed on the floor. There was an empty look in his eye and he didn't seem to acknowledge their presence. Chronos stepped forward.

"Blixer?..."

The latter blinked and seemed to snap out of his dazed state. His frightened gaze flicked up to meet theirs and quickly softened.

"... Chronos..."

The flower hugged the sphere tightly. Blixer returned it until he felt a boney finger poke him between his ears. He turned to find Ways mock glaring at him with his arms folded over his chest.

"Milky Ways..."

The latter pouted and looked away.

"Don't do that again... _Please_."

The Boss chuckled before resting his bandaged hand on the square's head affectionately. Ways looked back up at him with an resigned huff.

"...Don't plan to... Everything hurts like a bitch..."

"I am not surprised. It is as though you never put up a fight at all."

Blixer gave a short laugh.

"Logic... Blunt as ever, I see?..."

The circle twirled his staff behind him before letting it rest in front of him with his hands folded neatly over it.

"When I deem my blatancy necessary."

The larger rolled his eye.

"Either way, Blixer, it is gratifying to see you alive and on the way to being well."

The Boss leaned back against the pillows a little more.

"Thank you-... Chronos?"

The flower rubbed his eyes before smiling wetly.

"'M just... J-Just glad to have you back, Boss..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> I'll probably rewrite this chapter too, idk when but I will.


	28. Think Of Each Moment Holding This Breath (As Death Minute In Decimal)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How troublesome some people are...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: The Mind Electric - Miracle Musical
> 
> I realize that I haven't uploaded in a while and stuff. I just needed a break to take care of a few things, y'know? But I'm back(ish) now. 
> 
> This chapter might be a little short.

_[5 Days Earlier.]_

**Displeasure.**

"I... I understand-"

 _~~**CLEARLY, YOU DO NOT.** ~~ _ **Disappointment.**

**Betrayal.**

Cube winced as the Treeangle's images strained her mind. She won't deny that her legs were shaking a little. The Tree seemed much more agitated than before heir last visit.

_This is bad._

**The Islands.**

**Shapes walking through the bustling City.**

**One eye.**

"..."

 _~~**ANGER.**~~ _ **Sardonic laughter.**

"..."

**Blixer** **shattered.**

**Question mark.**

"..."

 ~~_**ANSWER ME!**_~~ **Qu** **e** **stion mark.**

**EMPHASIS.**

"... yes, he is still alive."

 ~~_**RAGE. DISGUST. YOU INCOMPETENT LITTLE--**_~~ **Chiding.**

**Disappointment.**

** _Perhaps I should do away with you that I did your brother._ **

Cube's eyes widened. She took a step back. The memories still haunted her. **His** screams still rang clear in her mind. She blames Blixer, she blames herself, she blames ~~_*********_~~ for not being strong enough to save him. Cube ignored the tears that welled up in her eyes.

The truth is, she hates doing the dirty work of the murderer in front of her. But her cowardice prevents her from climbing out of the hole she was continuously digging.

_Cube loathes the Tree with everything she has._

"... I won't fail you again."

 ~~_**SEE TO IT THAT YOU DO NOT.**_~~ **Glaring.**

**Scrutinizing.**

**Nodding.**

. . . . .

The heroes watched as Cube strode away from the Tree, visibly shaken. They looked between one another.

_Things were about to get one hell of a lot more complicated._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning on making another story on this, but it's all just the characters on crack and a load of complete crap.


	29. 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 (Crying zeroes and I'm hearing "1 1 1"s)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blixer gets better and Scarion's time is running out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: In Cold Blood - Alt-J

_[Present]_

It was around a week later that Blixer had been deemed well enough to walk around. He'd been allowed to sit up and test his legs with in the confinement to his room but no further up until now. His larger arms had dissipated long before then, being healed enough to be de-summoned. Fresh blamed such fast healing on whatever twisted energies that were left over from his... time with the Tree.

At the moment though, the pink shape was resting his eyes. The silence and the-

**C R A S H .**

...warmth of the-

" _ **ZONE! GET YOUR SORRY ASS BACK HERE!!**_ "

-room was-

"No can do, bruh! I have a _rad_ appointment with escapism, my main man!"

_Oh boy._

" **I'M GONNA SHATTER YOU INTO _BILLIONS_ OF TINY _FUCKING_ PIECES**!!"

"Cascade. It was only some instant ramen. This level of aggression is completely uncalled for. Please, I implore you to calm-"

"Arty. Please do NOT tell me to calm down!"

"But, I-"

" _No one_ touches _my_ shit! **_No_ one**."

_He had sorely missed the Tracks but he had definitely not missed their infamous screeching._

Blixer sighed as the two argued loudly outside his door. Shifting his body, he released himself from the confines of the duvet and got up from the bed. Most of the bandages had been removed, leaving behind some nasty scars; he ones around his knuckles, however, still remained due to the skin refusing to heal properly.

The sphere trudged over to the door and unlocked it.

He poked his head out with a scowl.

"Will you _shut up_? Its a little hard to rest while you're running around screaming."

The two immediately stopped their argument to stare at him a moment. Art of War leaned swiftly into a bow while Cascade scrambled into a salute.

"B-Boss! We're so glad y-you're alright! U-Uh-"

"What my partner means to say is that she is deeply apologetic for the disturbance. We will ensure that it shall **not** happen again."

Blixer rolled his eye. Whenever he interacted with Sevcon or Art of War, he felt like he was speaking to Barracuda if they weren't so closely related.

It was... eerie at first but he soon got used to it once he realized that they looked up to the pyramid.

"Yeah, yeah, just keep the noise down and tell the others, its giving me a bloody headache..."

"O-Ok, Boss!"

Cascade dashed off, however Arty stayed behind, standing up from his bow to stare up at him. Blixer raised half a brow.

"Yes?"

"Sir, if I may ask..."

The Track shuffled uncomfortably causing concern to well up in his chest.

"Why is there a fractured blue shape staying in the workshop?

Fresh tensed before relaxing slightly.

"He needs help and I believe we can help him... but its complicated... He presents no threat, that I am certain of. He also means to aid us in our cause... He holds potential use."

Arty's fidgeting subsided a small bit before he nodded and stalked off down the corridor. Blixer shivered.

_God, he even bloody walks like Cuda._

_Fucking creepy...._

. . . . .

Lycanthropy burst into the room, the door crashing against the wall as he lowered his outstretched foot. Its wooden surface retained a foot-shaped dent as it swung shut behind him. In his arms was a large, strange-looking metal box which required both of his lanky arms to hold.

The young flower staggered towards the cluttered workshop desk, brushing the little remnants of his tinkering to one side. The loud thud of the object hitting the wooden surface of the workbench was enough to awaken the fractured circle sleeping in a cosy nook in the wall.

Scarion flinched into wakefulness to... -

_W_ _a_ _it._

_Where was his **sight**?_

A cold realization washed over him like a pebble on the shore.

_His condition._

_It had gotten significantly worse._

Feeling for what was left of his face, the crack had fractured into his remaining eye and it was completely gone. Frantically, ran his fingers over the sliced portion of his shape.

"...no... nonononononono! This can't be-"

The indigo circle's body began to glitch again, far more painfully this time. He could feel parts of his form disappearing, withering ~~and he was glad he couldn't see it.~~ Scarion's fingers ached terribly as his fingertips started to waste away.

Across the space, Lycan opened the hatch of the infected computer, cussing angrily as heat spilled out from between the mass of wires and circuits.

_Stupid virus._

He was going to murder Cool Friends for being stupid enough to trust any website on PolyNet and slaughter Try This for not only leaving the computer open and allowing this to happen, but for trying to hide it from him as well.

With a long sigh, the boy turned around to check on the other inhabitant of the workshop when he froze.

"...help...?"

Horrified, his speech came out only as a breathless whisper at first.

"I need to get Cuda- SCARION, I'LL BE BACK, JUST HANG ON!"

The flower launched himself out of the room and dashed through the base in search of his older friend. The Tracks he passed shared deep concern as he ran at speeds far faster than usual. The maze of memorized halls passed in a blur as he peered briefly into each and every room.

Eventually, he found him in the training room, monitoring Sevcon's progress. Lycan recalled that he was having problems with controlling his power after the Heroes wrung him dry during "The Pink Corruption" as it was so affectionately named, but this was all unimportant at this minute!

"CUDA!"

Startled, the pyramid turned to him sharply. His eye narrowed before noticing the frantic and worried expression the flower was holding.

"Lycan-?"

"I-I-It's Scarion! He-He's f-falling apart in the workshop a-and I-"

Two large, lithe gloved hands rested on Lycanthropy's tense shoulders.

"Get. Blixer."

Barracuda quickly vanished in a flash of rosy light and a shower of triangles, leaving a confused Sevcon alone in the training room for the younger had already taken off to find the Boss mentioned.

. . . . .

Fresh arrived at the workshop a few minutes later, supported a little by the young flower.

"I heard what happ-"

"PLEASE! If there is anything you can do to stop this, DO IT ALREADY! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

Scarion's weak body shook as he lay trembling in his temporary sleeping spot. Cuda was keeling over him, a very special briefcase at his side. Blixer hurried into the space, limping slightly as he made his way over himself while Lycanthropy locked the door.

"Shh, I understand that you are scared but shouting won't help you. In fact, you distress is making it worse. So, I need you to try and stay calm."

" _Please_ , don't let me die... not like this..."

" _We **won't**_."

The pyramid opened the case to reveal the last 5 remaining pink shards. Blixer clenched his fists.

"Are you sure about this?! He could-"

"He could die either way, Blixer... At least, it would be less painful if he was to in this way."

A pregnant and worrying pause.

"... I don't like it."

"It's worth a try."

Lycanthropy settled himself by the workbench, choosing to stay out of the older shapes' way.

With a sharp exhale, Fresh nodded.

"........ Alright."

Cuda slowly picked up the shard closest to him; its power buzzed through the air as it came into contact with his gloved hands. Blixer watched anxiously as the other held the sparking triangle over Scarion's body.

"Is there anything you'd like to say before we continue?"

"..................... t-thanks... for being there."

The pyramid nodded to him and looked up at the sphere who was looking away. Cuda replied as he turned back to face the dying circle.

"You are very welcome."

Wasting no time, the tallest plunged the shard deeply into Scarion's scarred body.

.

.

.

The surge of power that followed rocked the caverns and unleashed an unholy scream from the indigo shape. The three bosses were thrown back amongst various tools and parts of machines. Strong magenta light bathed the seconds of destruction the blast had caused and dimmed as the initial effects wore off.

As energy levels settled, Blixer groaned unhappily but Lycan was the first to actually say something.

"... _holy shit_..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may hate me for this.


	30. The Ghost In Me Was True But You've Been Haunted Too (Just Didn't See It All Along)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh... What the fuck happened here?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: The Killing Kind - Marianas Trench

"...Language... Lycan..."

The latter ignored Barracuda's raspy voice and shakily stood up, his curious ebony eyes were trained on the gentle fuchsia glow emanating from the corner of the room. The boy carefully stepped over any junk or tools on the floor as he made his way over to Scarion ~~or what was left of him.~~ Peering into the nook, he was greeted with a pink... _circle? No, he's... not a circle??... Hang on-_

"Oh _Tree_."

"... Agh- What's wrong kid?... Is he alive?..."

Lycanthropy shuffled awkwardly, wondering how to reply to Blixer.

"W-Well... _Yeah_ but..."

"... _But?_... I don't like the sound of that 'but', Lycan."

The flower kneeled in front of the unconscious _whatever-he-is_ , watching his chest rise and fall softly.

"... Y-You should, uh... see for yourself..."

The boy heard a lot of shuffling behind him and the occasional hiss of pain before both Cuda and Fresh joined his confused shock.

"... _What did we do?_..."

Blixer sighed frustratedly as the pyramid put a hand over his "face".

"...I told you it was a bad idea. Pink energy is unpredictable... But he's alive... I hope..."

And of course, Scarion chose this moment to start waking up.

"Yh... 'M here..."

Lycanthropy jumped mildly.

"Oh!-Uh, Scarion! Heh!... H-How do you feel?"

The newly "corrupted" shape(???) raised his hands and stared at them closely. The countless scars that once covered his body had all but vanished, replaced by smooth clear pink skin.

"... Better than ever, honestly..."

Fresh's brow twitched and he crouched down.

"Uh, Scarion? Uh... There, um-"

"Just spit it out, Blix."

The latter would have smiled at the nickname if he weren't so deeply concerned. He took a short breath before speaking again.

"Uhm-"

" _You're not a shape anymore..._ "

.

.

.

" _Say it like it is, why don't you, Kid?!_ "

"You weren't going to-"

"I'm- _what?_ "

The two Bosses stopped bickering as Scarion piped up and looked between each other. Rolling his eye, Cuda grabbed the cracked full body length mirror from the far wall and brought it over. Lycanthropy moved out of the way as the pyramid stood it next to the pink "shape"'s bed. He spoke gently.

"I believe its safe to say that you are no longer 'Scarion', nor are you a normal shape. You are a Boss, like us, and every Boss has a song built into their being from the moment they are created, so... _what is your new name, friend?_ "

??? looked into the mirror and a wisp-like shape stared back with a pair of dark eyes.

" _Macabre_... La Danse Macabre."

. . . . .

Cyan jumped as all the lights flickered pink for a moment and the air turned toxic for the following few seconds. Tri stood up from his chair and Penta ducked under the table. Clementine came running in from the kitchen.

"The frick?"

Tri slumped back in his chair with a sharp inhale.

"There better not be another Pink Corruption because _I swear to the Tree-_ "

Penta was quick to intervene as he cautiously pulled himself out from his hiding spot before Tri started ranting again.

"No... That was a blast of corrupted energy which means...-"

Something clicked in Cyan's head.

"Which means we can find them now and stop them before they have a chance to use whatever kind of weapon that was."

Tri "smiled".

"And we can kick some more corrupted ass!"

Clementine laughed.

"Heck yeah!"

"Quickly, we need to track down the source!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Whatcha think? :D


	31. Never Shown You This Before, But I Think It's You They're Lookin' For (And The World's Right At Our Door, I Just Saw My Life Flash Back Before My Eyes)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Told Ya - Mystery Skulls
> 
> Sorry I'm late!, I had some other stuff to sort out! This one is a longer one so I hope that compensates!

The Tracks quickly became accustomed to seeing a living ghost walking around the base. Macabre had joked that it wasn't much different to how he was before.

_Heh..._

He mostly spent his time resting or training with the three other Bosses with the occasional chat in between. Once the wisp discovered that he'd inherited the Ability from the corruption, he couldn't stop using it. Lycan modified two old Channelling Staffs they somehow had knocking around into scythes as a running gag between the four of them.

_Needless to say, the ghost was **deadly** with them._

Cheat Codes took a liking to him right off the bat, being quite an irregular shape himself, and got along with him just fine. Blixer eventually stopped limping and was able to actually participate in training rather that shouting advice from a spot on the other side of the room. He hated sitting on his ass when he could be doing something more.

Barracuda had a stern talk with Cascade, who had blasted yet another one of her peers with a laser. He urged her to talk with Chronos about her anger management issues since the flower had overcome some problems with self-control himself.

And Lycanthropy's week so far...

_Let's just say two Tracks got brutally murdered by words and leave it at that._

Their top priority now is to figure out what will be their next move...

Except now...

**_It's not so simple._ **

The earth shook beneath him as the sound of sickeningly familiar synth reverberated through the basalt.

With a soft curse, Blixer took off running and it wasn't long before blaring alarm the homemade security system made it known that their position was compromised. (Lycanthropy and Barracuda did a great job of salvaging whatever tech and equipment was savable from the Tower.)

That night was the night they were going to have a meeting concerning their next plan of action against the Tree. But that just has to be postponed for now.

But the main question was _how?_

_How did they get in?!_

**_Unless they... No, they must have used their... other forms, in which case they'd be immune to the lava, the gas and the snakes (if they happened to get bitten)._ **

_Fuck_ **_._ **

Their base descended into organised chaos, the Tracks immediately scrambling to gather tech and supplies. Fresh weaved between the loud small shapes easily as they flitted from room to room.

He was currently heading towards the threat, hoping to buy them some time while the other three helped get everything and everyone out.

There was a series of passages before you actually step into the base. Blixer's plan was to bring it all down. While the heroes were blasting through the rock, causing a thick blockage should give them a few seconds, if not a few minutes.

He summoned both of his larger arms and dug the claws deeply into the rock. With a harsh yank the stone split, cracks spider-webbing along the roof of the entrance before disappearing out of sight. Blixer pulled one last time and the igneous rock came free.

He ripped his claws out quickly and ran back into the base. The caves trembled as the fractures caused a chain reaction and brought half of the system down in a matter of seconds.

Snakes in the area slithered away or dove into their nests for cover. The lava gushed out of the shattered rocks, free to flow as it pleased and gas drifted up into the air, giving it a pungent, foul smell.

_That should keep them occupied._

. . . . .

Fresh found Barracuda, Lycan and Macabre waiting for him with 3 extra bags when he got to their escape route minutes later. Blixer couldn't help but smile.

"Damn! You work fast!"

Cuda chuffed as he moved to give the sphere his bags.

"So do you."

Blixer thanked them and slung one of his bags onto his back. He picked the other two up in each hand and started walking at a brisk pace, borderline jogging. The tunnel was dark but Blixer's natural glow illuminated his surroundings. As the other 3 joined, the darkness receded further and Macabre spoke up.

"Alright, so, we're going to relocate to one of the other smaller islands, right?"

Lycan skipped along, turning momentarily to answer said question.

"Yep! Cuda built an undersea tunnel, connecting us to Theta! Its not too far!"

The wisp nodded and the pyramid pitched in.

"After we are through far enough, we're going to have to destroy the base and run to the island. This cavern is unstable and will most definitely collapse too. This is why the Tracks have already gone ahead with the heavy equipment and more important articles."

As the two continued to converse Blixer found himself looking back at their base.

_Why did everything have to fall apart?_

_They were so close last time..._

_And in their desperation, they fucked it up, **he** fucked it up._

_But its not the first time._

_There was the time before that._

~~_When Cube turned on them and **he** was murdered. They-_ ~~

**_Don't think about it._ **

_And..._

_And... the time even before that..._

~~_He doesn't even remember their faces anymore, but their voices seem to linger, distant and vacant, still begging him to stop._~~

~~_He was too young then, too unhinged... and much too naive-_ ~~

_**Don't think about it.** _

_Shit always hits the fan in the end..._

~~_What if Cube was right?_ ~~

With a heavy sigh, he turned away, focusing on the route ahead but it wasn't long before the melody of their personal Angels of Death echoed faintly through the cavern.

"They've gotten through."

A chill flashed down Blixer's spine. Lycanthropy cried out in shock.

"We're barely a third of the way!"

_He had to do something._

Fresh killed his speed, causing the others to pause.

_Make a decision._

"Ugh! We'll have to make do!... I'll bring it down, but you have to go! _Now!_ "

"Wait-"

" **Go**."

Hesitantly, the three took off. He watched them go before returning to the task at hand.

Blixer promptly summoned two other arms and fired both of them off down the tunnel.

No sooner had the Boss turned and begun running did the following explosion nearly toss him of his feet.

The sound of rushing water and crumbling rock reverberated through the stale air, spurring him into using his larger arms to sprint instead of his legs. The larger strides allowed Blixer to quickly catch up with his peers, who were using their own abilities to propel themselves forward at this point.

The seawater approached at speed. The gushing sounds were getting louder and louder as it closed in.

The ceiling was leaking badly and the cracks were ripping themselves open under the will of the waves.

"HOW MUCH FURTHER?!"

Blixer's voice was barely audible over the water.

"NOT FAR- THERE!"

_The exit was a literal light at the end of the tunnel._

He huffed at the irony.

"WE CAN MAKE IT!"

The opening was quite far in front of them and he didn't think they'd get there. Not without getting a little wet.

And as it turns out.

_He was correct._

The brine caught up with their heels and swept the floor out from under them. Macabre let out a cry of terrified surprise as he was sucked into the current. Barracuda and Lycanthropy took it in their stride, having been living in and close to water for long periods of time. And Blixer...

"HOLY FUC-!!!"

The water tore his bags away from him and he momentarily lost sight of his comrades. His body scraped against the floor as the water hauled him along with some debris. There were flailing limbs disturbing the brine next to him, bumping him on occasion.

Cuda, however, did eventually manage to grab his sorry butt before he was grated into sediments or beaten into shards. The pyramid was an exceptional swimmer.

The four Bosses quickly resurfaced at the end of the tunnel with a burst of ocean. They were thrown out into what once was a pit and was now a pool with a sandy beach. Their belongings came shortly after.

"Fuckin'... Ow."

Lycanthropy stood up while Macabre whined about being sore. The boy was completely unaffected by the whole thing. The flower typically did better in water than he did on land, one of his halves being Aquatic(*) and all that.

Barracuda slowly let go of Blixer and sat up with a groan, who cursed in response. The pyramid surveyed his surroundings and counted the bags strewn all over the space.

As he was looking, though, he noticed something.

"Blixer, where is your crystal pendant?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know.
> 
> I also wanted to say that we are nearing the end, the climax is coming, even if this is quite boring. Maybe 5-7 chapters??? Either way, I'm going to make a two other fics to explain this crap and for comedy.
> 
> Thx for reading <3
> 
> *((Flowers are a very common type of shape but there are many different kinds, like there are actual plants. Some live on land, like Blixer's grey appearance, though it isn't really too much of a flower, while other prefer to live in water.
> 
> The Aquatic flowers can breathe and thrive underwater as much as they can on land; the Ocean District has an underwater extension where most Aquatics are homed. Lycanthropy's blue half used to live in Riptide with his parents before they all evacuated to the Volcano District because of the toxic water.))


	32. Wish We Could Turn Back Time To The Good Old Days (When Our Momma Sang Us To Sleep But Now We're Stressed Out)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who was I?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Stressed Out - Twenty One Pilots

_The long blue-green grass danced enchantingly as the evening breeze swept through the wild mane of the hill. Small pink and yellow flowers weaved between the soft strings, adding more colour to their home._

_The sky was open and devoid of clouds or any such blemishes. The Sun sat on the horizon, bidding farewell to their small city in their own little way._

_Little Blixer found it odd that the Sun was sentient._

_They weren't quite a shape like him, but they weren't so far away like the stars._..

_How curious._

_Footsteps sounded from behind him. The smooth grass crunching softly under the person's feet._

_A warm soft hand pressed between his ears, causing him to lean into the affectionate touch. The appendages flicked up from their resting position as he nuzzled her fingers. **#####** sat beside him on the hill. She chuckled as he followed her hand when she pulled it away._

_"You're so catlike sometimes, you know?"_

_The small child grumbled and plopped himself into the elder's lap, resting his head on her chest. Her soft laughter echoed in his ears and he relaxed further._

_"... **###** told me to come and get you before dinner... And I can see why you come out here so much... She also says that she doesn't want to find you asleep up here again, haha!"_

_Blixer looked out to the darkening sky, serene and vibrant. He sniffled and clung to her pale yellow dress as the cool night wind traced the groves of the land._

_**#####** sighed, content._

_"Blix, I've got something for you... **###** gave me one too!"_

_She lifted her other enclosed hand and slowly uncurled her small fingers. Inside was a small necklace with a small but beautiful crystal on the end. She clipped it to his white shirt and let it rest on top of his little blue jumper._

_"He said it's called a **#### #######** , its for when we feel like we aren't strong enough... It symbolizes the flow of cause and effect, and its there to remind us that no matter how small a thing we do, it can have a big difference... What do you think, **#######**?"_

_Blixer fiddled with it. His big and curious eye trained on the refracted light inside it._

_"...'S pretty..."_

_The small sphere then yawned, his tiny blunt fangs making an appearance. His ears perked up again before flattening against his head as he curled into **#####** for warmth._

_"Mhm. Now, let's get you back home. **###** 's making **#### ###** tonight-"_

_The small sphere shot up out of her lap and scrambled down the hillside on his stubby little legs. His sudden wakefulness spurred a cry of surprise from his **##### ######**. **#####'** s loud cackling grew quieter as he scurried home._

_**#### ###** was his favourite._

. . . . .

Fresh awoke with a start.

His head spun like a top and he groaned groggily. The room was darker than he usually preferred but he could still see perfectly well. He flicked on the light anyway, out of habit. His new bedroom gained a rosy hue as it quickly brightened.

Blixer huffed as he closed his eye again.

_What was that?_

_It was too real to be a dream..._

_And who was she-_

**The realization hit him like a fucking bus.**

Faded memories crawled back. Of meadows and playtime in the summer. Of sitting in the grass and watching the flowers grow. Of his family...

And all of their faces were blurred out except hers.

She was the one he was truly fighting for, they were the ones he was aiming to free.

The pendant sat on his beside table. He'd searched frantically through the sand for it after Barracuda pointed out its vacancy. Blixer would have torn himself apart if he'd lost it...

...

He hated himself for forgetting her.

~~For forgetting how she died.~~

Fresh picked it up and let it hang from his fingers.

_Avali._

_Long dead like everything he once knew._

He lifted his hand to touch the smooth crystal and failed to notice when pink energy sparked off of his fingertips. The pendant flashed pink and a laser equivalent to that of a Bass Cannon shot out the other side of it. 

Snapped out of his mindset, Blixer yelped and dropped the necklace before falling off the small bed. He hit the wooden floor with a hard thump and got himself entangled in the duvet.

The sphere thrashed around a little before coming free.

He lay there for a moment, his heart racing.

"Of course... Cause and effect..."

_And a lightbulb pinged on in his mind._

_He might have just figured out how they might win this war._

He closed his eye with a smile.

_"Thank you, Sister."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4th time lucky everybody!


	33. Here And Now, If This Is It (Can't Get Out From Under It)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Failure is not an option.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: The Killing King - Marianas Trench
> 
> The Treeangle's POV [Third Person]

In truth...

The Treeangle hated this place.

And while hate is a strong word, no other word could come close to how much it detested this cursed world.

And everything on it.

Everything was too bright, too vibrant, too...

_Just too much!_

**Whatever happened to a nice, plain, simple white?**

It was only because it drew the short straw between its cohorts that it ended up with the most undesirable puddle to have ever had the misfortune of being created.

And constant noise these mortal creatures ceaselessly churned out, day in day out...

**Ugh! Disgusting!**

It would reduce it to dust in a heartbeat if it could...

...

But... Anything was better than the place it had come from...

To be completely honest, the Treeangle was no tree nor shape at all.

Though, that should have been obvious.

The Treeangle came from a distant world.

A world that had fallen into chaos and decay.

As a last ditch effort to preserve themselves, it and the most capable of its brethren cast themselves out to the great beyond to assess and prepare a new home.

But this place was proving to be quite troublesome...

One of these mortals in particular actually...

They called him Blixer, the New Fresh.

**Such a tacky name for such a pest!**

That infernal creature had been an absolute nuisance for far too many annual cycles.

And for so long, it has yearned to put an end to his suffering.

It has seen and felt the pain he feels and it is truly unfortunate... but he is getting in the way of something greater that he could possibly imagine.

It is imperative that it survives. If any of the others were to fail, all up to it to ensure the preservation of its race.

It cannot fail.

**It will not fail.**

But this "Blixer" is making it so infuriatingly hard.

Not to mention the incompetence of its "subjects".

The Gifted Mortal, Cube, was proving to be especially incapable of disposing of _him_ and his band of pink rebels.

Perhaps it is due to her former attachment to both him and the pyramid formerly known as Pyran...

Using their brother as a threat seemed to work in getting its irritancy across clearly but it has not seemed to influence her competence.

Ugh. He could feel them all laughing at his misfortune.

. . . . .

Pink energy, it has found, is exceptionally resilient.

The other colours bended to its will easily enough but pink fought back with a viciousness largely unexpected from such an unstable and primitive force.

The Treeangle had asserted itself as a part of these mortals through generations of exposure and was now able to see through them. It could monitor or alter their every thought; their minds were easy enough to tap into now that their energies had been diluted.

_But pink was unyielding._

And it was blind to their movements.

And after years of integrating itself into these lower creatures, pink had become toxic to them.

Its pure and unrefined power was too much for their weakened energies.

It didn't seem to have changed anything in the delicate balance that held the world together, only the outcome of imbalance, so it left things as they were.

The mortals, it had assessed, were a necessary part in maintaining stability. Without them as valves essentially, the many different energies would clash and rip each other apart, therefore reducing any sort of chance of implementing a colony.

So pink mortals are, unfortunately, a vital part in keeping things at an equilibrium.

Therefore controlling them was a must.

Pink's wild nature, unfortunately, was toxic to it too as it had discovered the hard way in Blixer's pitiful previous attempt at destroying it.

The pink energy began converting its own energy into more of itself the longer it was exposed.

The Treeangle had been weakened but the erosion far more than it would have liked to admit and was still only barely at half strength.

_Which is why Blixer must be erased._

_And why it has been so on edge as of late._

~~It didn't want to die!~~

Its success or failure was hinged on its control over these weak-willed minds.

Were they to break free and turn against it, it would surely be annihilated. Its status as a god ensured that they respected it and were willing to bend to fit its needs but that was all that was supporting its hold over them.

The heroes were also a part of its plans.

Especially pliable creatures, selected and reconfigured into powerful beings that will keep the rest in check when it cannot. That power also came with freedom of thought, something it has found very dangerous, however difficult they find it to keep secrets which these no doubt do.

It had not perceived these current events to occur but it wanted them and itself to be ready for Blixer's onslaught.

However, they haven't been doing such a good job of managing their pink issues so far.

**Blixer cannot be left to fester any longer.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, it's about to go down!!


	34. 'Cuz I Know That You're Out There (This Darkness Is My Signal, Come And Find Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the home stretch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: One Of Us - Mystery Skulls

The cloaked figure sailed across the glittering water in darkness, unperturbed by the mildly jerky movements of the boat. The night sky shielded their movements as they headed for District 6.

Sailing past the Ocean District was too risky. There were many shapes in the area at that time of night which could spot them. But, taking the long way round, past the Forest and Marsh Districts on the north side of the Island, was a safer option.

The disguised shape sat peacefully in the small boat as the current pulled him around the main Island. It would still be another 20 minutes until they reached the Peephole, a tiny crack in the mountain too small for anyone to escape through but big enough to slip in messages or small enough items.

The Treeangle, of course, didn't know about this little loophole, and it was a loophole that had been exploited time and time again. It was the one thing that allowed them to communicate with those in captivity.

Spectra had been chosen for the important job of delivering the details of their latest plan. Blixer had been so sure that it would work when they adjourned their meeting, they all were.

_So... surely, this would be the last time..._

A ⅓ of an hour later, the pink hexagon disembarked onto the rocks, tying the boat to one of the nearby stalagmites. Spectra grabbed a large bag filled with odd brown packages and slipped it over her shoulders.

She had to be quick about this.

She placed the now switched on lantern between her teeth and hopped up the cliff side, her feet landing on the small purchases with deadly precision.

Spectra was quick, level-headed and scarily accurate: precisely why she was given this crucial task.

After another 100 meters, she dove into a nook into the rock, instantly finding the breach. It was practically invisible unless you knew where to look.

Carefully, she placed the light down, trying not to think about the drop below her. The hexagon swiftly slipped all 25 packages through the hole along with details of the plan and some small personal items for some of the shapes inside. One of these included a small note for her old friend Katana Blaster.

Someone would come by tomorrow and hand the plans to the council and the Imprisoned would prepare themselves. Razor Sharp wished they didn't have to involve them but, the bigger the diamond, the more potential energy it could output and the Mountain had some bigger than 5 story apartments.

Placing the lantern back into her mouth, Spectra scrambled down the rock, and much more easily now that she'd delivered the explosives. When she reached the shore she turned off the light, plunging her into darkness once more. The Track quickly hopped back into the small sailboat, hoisted the sail and drifted off into the night.

_It was done._

_. . . . ._

Blixer sat behind the treeline leading up to the small beach, nervously anticipating Spectra's return. His glow was dimmed and he stayed within the safety of the small wood. He couldn't help but feel seeds of doubt beginning to sew themselves into his chest.

_What if someone does see her?_

_Their plan would surely fail..._

This was a perfect opportunity to strike once more against the Treeangle and with the diamonds, they could destroy it for sure, but...

_Something always goes wrong._

His blunted claws dug into the soft earth.

_No, don't think about it._

Fresh breathed deeply and hugged his knees.

They were the only people living on Theta at the moment. It was quiet, peaceful and an Island that most shapes forget about. So long as they stayed out of sight and didn't garner too much attention, they'd be able to hang on just long enough to beat that alien fuck.

The sound of wood dragging against sand drew his mind away from his thoughts. Blixer poked his head out from behind the tree to see Spectra struggling with the boat. With a relieved sigh, he sprinted over to the hexagon to help her fold up the mast.

"Spectra, did you-"

"All 25 packages and paperwork have been delivered successfully, Boss."

"That's good. Run inside and tell the others to prepare for Stage 2."

Nodding sharply, Spectra dashed off into the woods with her empty bag while Blixer folded down the mast.

_The plan was going well so far..._

_Maybe this truly was it?..._

Smiling to himself, he summoned his larger arms and easily lifted the small vessel onto his back. He jogged back into the woods again with a fiery determination that not even the dripping boat could dampen.


	35. Here We Go, Here We Go (It's About Time That We Set It Off)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations are underway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Legend - The Score
> 
> (Perfection.)

_Day 1_

_[ **11** **:03 AM** ] MOUNTAIN'S HEART_

It was Houston's turn to check for any word from Razor Sharp that morning.

It had been a month and a half since the Sun had refused to rise, the air buzzed with Pink Energy and the bellowing war cry of a fearsome creature had shaken the Mountain's heart, shapes and crystals alike.

The Council was worried that Razor Sharp had been destroyed, but with the amount of Blue Energy in the days afterwards, it would be fair to say that they were. Everyone was demoralized, fearing what would happen if their only outside allies had all been shattered. Especially with what had happened previously.

_It was only a matter of time..._

Houston was worried about Termination Shock, her best friend. She was especially dear to her and she'd never forgive herself for letting her join Razor Sharp if it got her killed.

The four-point star swung her empty satchel around by the handle absently and kicked a small rock down the curved passage, trying to get those distracting thoughts to elude her. It bounced out of sight and she heaved a sigh...

Until the rock she'd kicked hit something that sounded a little too soft to be more rock and dust.

Houston picked up the pace, fully sprinting towards the Peephole. There, a truly wonderful sight met her eyes.

"... They're alive...... I-... I have to get these to the council!"

_[ **11** **:21 AM** ]_

"H-HEAD COUNCILLOR!!-"

Houston fell to her knees panting, having run through the city all the way to the Council. As she regained her bearings on the tiled floor, her heavy bag slipped from her shoulder. The Lords and Ladies descended into a hum of murmuring, chattering incessantly at the appearance of the girl. Their previously groggy mood dissolved into alarm.

Head Councillor Itvara swept to her feet, her robes spilling out of her chair at her boots. The pentagon's lonely eye narrowed, her brows furrowing.

"...Houston?"

The star reached into the bag and placed a sealed tube in front of her with a shaky hand. She took a few shallow breaths before speaking.

"It's Razor Sharp... They're alive!"

There was a moment of silence before the courtroom burst into relieved hysteria. Houston smiled as the Council began cheering and almost celebrating in a way. Lord Heist in particular.

Lady Itvara raised her hand and the body of chipper councilmen and women gently quieted down. While she didn't have a mouth to smile with, it was clear to see that she was just as hopeful as the rest of the room.

"This is wonderful news, Houston! We will revise this information they have given us and will inform the rest of the mountain later today."

Houston got to her feet with a small grin. She placed the bag in front of the Lady and stepped back. The star bowed quickly and left the court as sharply as she'd arrived.

"I've a feeling that we will be a little more involved this time."

**_**

_Day 2_

_[ **8** **:35 AM** ] THETA_

"Lycan. How's the program?"

There was a muffled groan from the far side of their slapdash workshop. Blixer's ears pricked up in concern.

Parts of different little machines were placed neatly atop the table in the middle of the room. Lycanthropy was sat on a small chair in front of a monitor, filled with hundreds of lines of code. The computer next to it was whirring loudly. The boy rubbed his tired eyes with achy fingers. His shape and skin looked worryingly pale.

"Wh't?"

A frown made its way onto his face. Fresh's ears twitched when the flower's faint wheezing reached them as he stretched his ashen lanky arms.

"... The virus?"

Lycan scratched his sides for a solid 2 minutes before speaking.

"...Mmn... Oh. Yeah, right! Uh, I still need to modify some of the, uhm, commands... Uh... I'm trying-... I'm trying to amalgamate polymorphic, direct action and multipartite code so that it'll infect the Tesseract but won't act until I execute the order- and I still need to write what the order is-... A-And I'm nearly done!"

A small growl threatened to escape the sphere's throat.

 _Lycan had not slept or hydrated himself_.

"... Kid, how long were you up doing this?"

The latter yawned.

"Mmn... It doesn't matter-"

"Yes, it does. Especially when your health is at risk"

"But- I need to finish! Don't you want us to succeed?-"

"We've waited 124 years, we can wait another few hours."

"But-!"

"Go to bed. That's an order, kid."

Lycanthropy grumbled and stood up, his joints made soft clicks as he did so. He mumbled a "goodnight" as he passed Blixer and swayed off to his room.

The sphere huffed and moved over to his computer. He saved his work to the drive a shut down the machine.

_He needs to keep more of an eye on him..._

~~_But that might be hard considering that he only has the one._ ~~

_[ **10:38 AM** ] MOUNTAIN'S HEART_

"Lady Itvara!"

"My Lady! Please get down from there!"

"Has the blasted Mountain Ore finally driven her insane?"

"One would think so-!"

"LADY ITVARA!"

"Tell Lord Smoke that his sister has made a bit of a spectacle... again."

"Sure..."

"My Lady, it's not safe-!"

Lady Itvara ignored the cries for her to come down or get help and focused on the task at hand. The last pack of explosives had to go into a very specific place for the rock to break like they wanted.

When the pink shapes were first imprisoned, they broke through the side of the mountain countless times and after countless reseals, the stone had weakened. However, the rest of the rock had become thicker with layers of snow and vegetation growing over it so it had to be in a weakened spot.

But that's the thing, the rock wasn't stable on the inside...

And Lady Itvara was the one doing the job everyone else was too scared to do.

"My-!"

"Itvara! What are you doing now?!"

The Head Councillor looked down and found her brother staring up at her like a parent would a petulant child, with his arms folded over his chest. She turned back to the rock and shifted her arm and foot upwards.

"I'm- hmh... being proDUCTIVE, Smoke!"

"By putting your life at risk?!"

"Yes!"

Lord Smoke twitched.

"You are being unreasonable."

"And you are being a nuisance."

"Ugh- Stop being so childish and let someone more qualified handle this-"

"Everyone "more qualified" is too much of a wuss to climb up here!"

A few shapes disagreed with that accurate accusation.

"Get down, Itvara!"

"Not yet!..."

_[ **7:49 PM** ] THETA_

The Tracks had learned not to question Lycanthropy's sleeping habits, or any of the Bosses' sleeping habits for that matter.

As, stated before, one of Lycan's halves was ~~a fish~~ Aquatic and had lived in the ocean for most of their life. As a repercussion of this, the fused flower had to spend varying periods of time submerged or bathing in water (lava also worked too). It also meant that he inherited gills from them...

The flower sat up from the pool of water feeling refreshed. He stretched for a moment and climbed out of "bed", turning on the water filter and putting his wet pillow into the large bowl in the corner.

Lycan grabbed the towel on his nightstand and dryed himself off. He had to be careful around the little trios of slits on his sides, however, the skin was delicate.

The gills were awkward to get used to after he was... "born". Lycan's Track half wasn't familiar with the feeling of, not only breathing through his waist, but sucking in water and not choking or suffocating. He also had to apply a special herbal salve to them to keep them from drying out and becoming itchy which was a pain because he forgets sometimes and it's awful.

With the towel securely wrapped around his waist, he opened the top drawer and pulled out a small tub. The boy unscrewed the lid and tipped his fingers into the gloppy lime green substance inside. He rubbed it on the soft skin just inside the organs, shuddering at the feeling ~~and not in the nice way~ (Ew. No. Stfu)~~.

He'd tasted it once, after both parts of himself agreed that it would be an intriguing experience. He tried it and while it smelled quite nice, it _fried his taste buds_. He couldn't taste anything but ass hair, cardamom and green tea for like a week.

_Not the brightest idea he's had but it was quite informative._

Lycan pulled a shirt and shorts on quickly, the spikes on his head causing the top's fabric to ping against his shoulders. He slinked out of his room with a fresh mind and scurried off towards the workshop.

He mentally thanked Blixer for saving his work and turning off the computer. That thing was overheating like nobody's business.

Opening up the files, he groaned when he realized just how many errors there were in the code. He thanked Blixer a second time for forcing him to go to bed. Lycanthropy rubbed his face in frustration and got back to work.

If he's quick, he-...

_THE TIME IS- WHAT??!!_

**_**

_Day 3_

_[ **9:27 AM** ] VOLCANO DISTRICT_

"Come on! They can't have gone far!"

"I've been surveying the Central district for 4 days: there's no trace of them!"

"The Forest and Ocean Districts are clear too!"

"How can we simply up and lose 20 odd shapes?!"

"Cube's gonna kill us-!"

" _Everyone. Shut. Up._ "

Cyan rubbed his "face" with both hands and sighed.

It had been 5 days since they'd failed to capture Razor Sharp for the third time. Cube was on edge more often than not, pushing them to try harder. The heroes still didn't quite understand the situation: only that the Officials were trying to get the Tree back up to full strength before Blixer could strike again. And then the Treeangle really wasn't happy either...

In fact, it almost seemed like it had been throwing a hissy fit for the last month...

_Must have been all that corruption..._

Right now, though, they'd all reconvened at the mouth of the Volcano to discuss how they were meant to find the band of frickin' fricks.

The square inhaled slowly.

"Have we checked all the districts? 1 through 5?"

His team nodded.

"... Have we checked 6?"

Tri sighed.

"No activity on the Mountain..."

"Have we checked all the Islands?"

"..."

"Well?"

". . ."

"... We haven't, have we?"

Penta shuffled nervously.

"... No-"

Clementine let out a long, exaggerated groan, facepalming with an audible slap.

"We've been looking on the WRONG FREAKING ISLAND!!"

The rest of the heroes slumped in exasperation, whining in unison.

Tri huffed.

"Well, let's get to it then... If we're lucky, we'll find them by tomorrow..."

"But what if we don't? What-"

"Jinx it and I swear to the Tree, Penta, I will dip your stupid head into the lava."

"Rude-"

Cyan cut them off before they could steer off focus.

"But seriously though, guys... We only have a few days, maybe, before they'll strike again and people could get hurt..."

The square sighed

"We have to concentrate all of our efforts into searching the smaller islands..."

The sound of collective frustration echoed down the Volcano.

_[ **10:04 AM** ] THE HEART_

Cube sipped her tea slowly, staring out of her office window deep in thought. 

She was tired of this crap.

This war between the ever resilient Pink, and White, masquerading as Blue.

There had already been so much death and destruction. _So much loss..._

It's just pointless now.

"Pure" and "Corrupt" are just labels, "Friend" and "Foe", telling you who to trust and who not to.

What are they even fighting for anymore?

_Control?_

_Freedom?_

_Security?_

...

It has been so long since the beginning of the conflict, a beginning which not even the records say when.

Which brings forth the question:

How old is Blixer _really_?

He'd been rendered virtually incapable of dying by the Tree (and not just his uncanny ability to weasel his way out of near death situations) but he'd been alive long before that...

Once, he told her that he remembered when the Mountain was a dormant volcano...

That's... a _very_ long time ago...

Before even the Treeangle had arrived...

Perhaps he was fighting for the memory...

Or something he once had...

Either way, her heroes should stay out of the way for this one. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if those kids got any more caught up in this century-spanning schadenfreude.

But...

She had faith that it would end in the sunrise of a pink dawn.

Cube sighed and lifted the mug to her face, letting the steam kiss her face.

_...Maybe **Pentako** might find some peace when the Treeangle is finally destroyed..._

_[ **9:47 PM** ] MOUNTAIN'S HEART_

"Council members adjourned?"

"Check. Full house."

"Explosives in place?"

"Ha. Check."

"Bass Cannons on standby?"

"Check."

"Trainees?"

"They completed their final combat assessments with flying colours. Check."

"General morale?"

"Rising."

"My tea?"

"S-Still brewing, Ma'am."

"Good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Itvara - Fractal  
> Heist - Noisestorm  
> Smoke - AU5 & Fractal)


	36. Can You Hear The Sirens? Can You See The Enemy Line? (I Feel It Coming Closer)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, for the finishing touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Battlecry - Mazare & Phillip Strand

_Day 4 [ **1:22 AM** ] THETA_

"Lycan, are you ready?"

Lycanthropy watched as the program ran smoothly and finished without a hitch. He quickly piled everything into the drive and pulled it out of the computer. The flower pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket and slipped it in. He nodded to Macabre, who had his scythes strapped to his back and a dark bandana tied around his arm.

Blixer had lent the new Boss his combat boots, some gloves and a black leather jacket, with a hood he could use to shield his shape, for this mission. Lycan had donned his usual black hoodie and a pair of black jeans. His mask was wrapped around his wrist under the sleeve of his jumper.

Lycan shoved the sealed drive into his pocket before speaking.

"Try not to get caught."

Macabre smirked.

"I could say the same to you too."

The flower and wisp then parted ways.

Lycan jogged off towards the pool below the base and would meet Macabre again once he was off the island. Meanwhile, the wisp sprinted out of the base and towards the beach.

He dodged each tree in his path until sand touched his boots. With a great leap, the ghost took to the air and shot off low to the water, Lycanthropy swimming under him.

_[ **1:33 AM** ] OCEAN DISTRICT_

The boy's clothes were special in that they were water resistant, so he never had to worry about soggy fabric sticking to his skin. This was a blessing because fabric stuck to his gills was absolute hell.

Their route was a little risky as it involved going through the Ocean district. The main servers were located inside this massive skyscraper on the south end of the Central area. It may look like just another corporation's HQ, but it was filled with hundreds of thousands of computers and massive virtual storage blocks. It was where all the public data, software and systems were located.

_They were about to fuck up the Tesseract._

_The biggest storage facility of National data ever built._

As they approached the shoreline, Macarbe got ready to lift them both into the rooftops. There weren't too many shapes out that night in the District and most of them would be intoxicated but they shouldn't chance it.

Lycanthropy breached the surface and the ghost caught him, lifting his quickly drying body up onto the damp rooftops. As he touched down, the wet flower wriggled out of his grip.

"It's virtually a straight shot from here..."

Macabre pulled his hood up.

"Great! So we just sneak in, plant the virus and sneak out. Easy!"

"I hope so."

Lycan yanked his hood over his shape as his partner tied on his bandana.

"You ready?"

The flower hooked on his mask with a nod.

"Then lets go."

_[ **1:57 AM** ] CENTRAL DISTRICT_

It was far too simple to access the servers.

The idiots who ran the shitshow thought that of a shape were to implant a bug, it would be via a website or through hacking. Never did they think to guard the hardware with proper security.

The two Bosses were currently latched onto the side of the building, only a sheet of glass between them and success.

"Macabre. Scythe."

The latter pulled out one of his modified staffs and channeled some of his energy into it. The pink blade hummed to life with a soft crackle and the wisp pushed it into the glass. The tip cut through like a knife through warm butter and a hole was cut in quick succession. Macabre pushed the glass in but caught it before it hit the floor, placing it to the side. Lycanthropy wormed his way in first, the other following on his tail.

While the boy ran to the nearest interface, the eldest stood by the opening in case "someone" might have seen them. Lycan pushed the drive into the port next to the hologram and sighed as it recognized the USB as a Tesseract SuperDrive. He started the upload.

"All we need to do now is wait. It should be 3 minutes tops."

"Alright..."

Each second they were standing around made the likelihood of them getting caught much higher.

_[ **2:00 AM** ]_

"-Anddd... There! Now I'll just... close all this down and they won't... suspect... a thing!"

Macabre blinked.

"Where did you learn all of this stuff?"

Lycan tensed.

"... Let's just say I don't exactly have conventional hobbies, heh."

The younger removed the drive and the two walked over to the open window. Lycan climbed out and the wisp helped him put the window back together. After Macabre clipped his scythe to his back and fazed through the wall, he grabbed Lycan and-

" _HEY!_ WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU FREAKS ALL WEEK!"

_Oh shit._

The pair turned to find a very pissy green hero glaring at them.

.

.

.

_Yeah, no._

_"GET BACK HERE!!!"_

Macabre shot off, the green hero screeching incoherent undignified noises behind them. They weaved in and out of the skyscrapers, under billboards and over corporate offices.

"MACABRE, HE'S GAINING ON US!!"

"I FIGURED! HOLD ON, I'M GOING TO TO DO SOMETHING YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE!"

"What-"

The wisp engulfed them in pink smoke before fazing through the skyscraper and taking a sharp turn up through the building. They flew out of the top and made a U-turn back towards the ocean district at high speed...

_ONLY FOR ANOTHER FUCKING HERO TO SHOW UP._

Macabre hit the metaphorical brakes as hard as he possibly could-

"Who the frick are you? You new or something? Ha! Figures you have the same taste Blixer given that y'all are emo as frick."

... w h a t ?

"The hell? We don't have time for this. Macabre, evasive maneuvers!"

"Yes, sir."

"Don't be so- AAAA _AAAA_ -"

The wisp let them go into free fall, sending them plummeting towards the ground. He kept his arms wrapped tightly around the panicking flower. The windows of skyscrapers flashed past, the air crashing against them.

"CYAN! On your 5!"

"Got it! Clemmie, with me!"

"Tri! How many times to we have to tell you! Stop staring at-"

"I WASN'T!"

Macabre took a 180° and flew them back up into the air, disorienting the triangle behind them. Lycan clung to him for dear life.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING?!"

" _NO!_ "

"THEN WE'RE _FUCKED_!"

The pair took a sharp right and dove into an open window, sprinting through the dark empty rooms. Lycanthropy dragged the other into a stairwell and hopped the rails, trusting Macabre to put him down safely at the bottom. The wisp placed him down gently and they fled the building.

Being Bosses, the two were a little taller than the average shape. Lycan was taller than all the other flowers by a head and Macabre was virtually the same height. Running through the streets was jarring after so long in isolation, the height difference made it so much worse.

Flowers and other shapes dove out of their path as they barrelled through with the heroes on their asses.

The square began closing in quickly, using his dash to catch up. Macabre quickly yanked Lycanthropy to the left, sending Cyan crashing into a wall. His shape flashed white and a small portion disappeared.

"CYAN!!"

"Oh, Tree!"

"Are you ok??!!!"

The two bosses weaved through buildings and took a sharp turn downwards into a small alleyway. Macabre dared to look over his shoulder to find no one following them. The wisp let go of the flower with a smile and they jogged through dingy dark streets.

"There should be a shuttle rail not far form here, we can hitch a ride to the Ocean District!"

"Great!"

_[ **2:35 AM** ]_

"Honey! We're home!"

"And we were successful!~"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop-


	37. I Wanna Be Home Free, Where's One That Was Lonely? (But I'm Ready And Waitin' For My Day Of Salvation, And I'm Patient)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will you forgive me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Home - Vince Staples

Cube lay restless in her bed.

The plush mattress and soft fabric did nothing to ease the gnawing sense of anxiousness that plagues her conscience.

_When it was finally over, would they even accept any apology after what she did to them?_

She rolled onto her back and sat up. The city was bright against the night, glistening and glaring, alive yet artificial. The black backdrop looked so peaceful. She wondered what it must be like for the souls up there...

.

.

Usually, she'd drink some sweet tea when she felt like this. It made her think straight.

_She didn't feel thirsty._

The sound of her heroes rushing in, alarmed and panicky, was muffled by the door. Cube's mouth felt dry and her stomach flipped.

_She felt sick._

The cube rose from her bed entirely, slipping on a baby blue robe and leaving her quarters. The yelling grew louder as she neared the source.

_Maybe this was the universe telling her that she'd never find peace._

. . . . .

Barracuda sat in silence.

It was peaceful that way.

Serene.

His room was and always has been his safe space. ~~It gave him the privacy to ball his eye out without anyone looking.~~

He kept a journal of everything he felt that hindered each of his waking moments and nudged his mind away from his goals. And once he couldn't put another thing inside, he'd burn it and forget.

Cuda rubbed his right shoulder harshly and hissed when his claws caught that sensitive patch of skin.

The pyramid looked away from the golden yellow glow emitting from it, _the part of him that never turned pink._

No matter how much energy he exposed it to, the yellow stubbornly clung to his skin. It was like a persistent stain on a fabric that was never meant to even get stains in the first place. It was frustrating.

_He hated it._

_He hated everything about what it stood for._

_~~He hated what it meant he could have been.~~ _

Barracuda stood up off of the end of his bed and stood in front of the mirror hanging on the door.

...

_Was it... bigger?_

He rubbed it again.

...

_Perhaps not._

The fluorescent honey-lemon glittered brightly under the soft pink lighting.

...

...The colour hurt his eye.

Cuda went over to his tall chest of drawers and pulled out one of his many black vests. He slipped it on quickly and put a shirt on over it.

Not a trace.

The pyramid rubbed his shoulder again with a sigh.

"Honey! We're home!"

"And we were successful!"

A small "smile" crept onto his face and he left the room to greet the two younger Bosses.

. . . . .

Blixer sat in the common area, reflecting on his life up until this point.

He'd done good things, bad things, questionable things, laughable things and a multitude of things he's can't even remember...

No, not because he got blackout drunk every Saturday when he was younger, but because he got mind-fucked by an alien.

_.... That sounds... so much worse... put like that..._

Blixer rubbed his face with two scarred hands. He stared at his wrists.

.

.

.

Annihilate was actually **not** one of the worst decisions he's ever made. The last Piece would have destroyed the Tower and everyone in it if he hadn't intervened. Plus, he got one last chance to destroy the damn thing by exposing it to concentrated pink energy and leeching off of it's power.

It was still a win lose though, he'd destroyed parts of the City in the process... and also the amount of dysphoria that came with his biggest form would haunt him to his grave.

Blix sighed.

No, that glorious title goes to the "I'm going to try and take on a 40ft entity with godlike abilities with nothing but my claws, one arm and an axe because screw logic, I'm pissed" decision.

As expected, it didn't go well-

 _Actually that's an understatement_.

Its how he ended up as one of the heroes in the first place...

And maybe started this whole fiasco.

...

_Gods, he was a dumb kid._

The best decision he'd ever made though was-

_No, he doesn't really want to think about that..._

** _~~What's the point? We're never going to make it out alive anyway.~~ _ **

Blixer shuddered and rubbed his eyeball...

_~~Which now that he thinks about it is a pretty big eyeball, like, volleyball sized-~~ _

"Honey! We're home!"

"And we were successful!"

_Thank **fuck**._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... I'm sorry


	38. Dystopia 2077 Is Starting Now.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The revolution is imminent.
> 
> (Title chapter! Yay!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Dystopia 2077 - F.O.O.L & The Forgotten
> 
> I love this. (Hysteria (F.O.O.L & SKUM) is amazing too)
> 
> This chapter is long as fuck and it was a pain in my ass to complete and I am so happy, I finished it! Hope you enjoy!

_[ **5** **:37 PM** ]_

"Is everyone in position? Volcano?"

" _Yes, sir._ "

"Forest?"

" _Ready when you are, Boss._ "

"Marsh?"

" _Just fixing one of the bass cannons, give us- Oh? No, we're good! Here, sir._ "

"Ocean?"

" _Waiting in the wings._ "

"... And Mountain?"

" _[. . .]_ "

"Mountain, do you copy?"

" _[. . .]_ "

"Can you read me, Mountain?"

" _..... -ah! Here we go! We read you loud and clear, General Blixer! Mountain on standby._ "

"Then, there's only one thing now. Lycan?"

"Here, Boss!"

"Execute order: _Dystopia 2077._ "

. . . . .

Cyan and his team were with Cube and the Tree when the city turned magenta. Every screen, every device, every billboard was washed over with the harsh colour. The sound of systems crashing echoed through the Heart and Central District.

Tri stood up from where he was sat on the blue-green grass, staring at the collapsing networks.

"...That's why they were in the Tesseract."

Clementine "grit his teeth" as Penta piped up.

"Iso didn't find the bug in time."

Suddenly, all sound glitched and changed to heavy synth. Cyan swore he saw the Treeangle shiver.

> { _ **Dystopia 2077 - F.O.O.L & The Forgotten**_}

The rhythm pulsed through the city, the bass humming through the earth and the beat dancing in the wind.

"No!"

"I thought they said they weren't going to pull this crap again!"

"What the hell?!"

The City glitched a second time and bold, black lettering began appearing on the screens as a reminiscently female computerized voice spilled out from every speaker on the Island.

**Th-The connection has been lost.**

**All of the online networks are down.**

**Biotechnology has been successfully implemented.**

**The new era has begun.**

"New era?!"

"C'mon guys! We need to stop is before it gets out of-"

The computers glitched again, this time displaying a hacking symbol that looked suspiciously like Lycanthropy. There was a loading bar beneath it that shot from 0% to 100% far too quickly. All the lights turned magenta and the power grid started sparking.

The Treeangle started to get affected. The machines hooked up to it that had been building up its power malfunctioned and instead, began draining it, replacing it with the toxic energy they all despised.

 ~~**PANIC.**~~ **Anxious face.**

"Oh. Fuck."

"LANGUAGE!"

"Cube, what do we-"

_Cube was gone._

"Where did she-??"

**Systems operating properly.**

**The Gate No.6 is being opened.**

A huge blast echoed across the island and smoke rose up from the mountain. Waves of pink energy spilt into the open air, smothering it.

**All the weapons are locked and loaded.**

**_DYSTOPIA 2077_ is starting now...**

**10.**

"Weapons?!!"

"To the Mountain! Quickly!"

**9.**

The group leapt into the air and dashed towards the mountain, Dashing through everything in their path.

"We won't make it!"

**8.**

"We have to!"

Cyan was not going to let this happen again.

**7.**

Cuda clenched his fists, a "smile" gracing his face. He shot upwards towards the mountain, case filled with Treeangle chards in hand.

_It was almost time._

**6.**

Lady Itvara grinned as bountiful heaps of sorely wanted sunlight poured into their dark dungeon.

**_5._ **

"READY, SOLDIERS!"

**_4._ **

The cries of hundreds of pink shapes, desperate for freedom, reverberated out of the cavern and onto the world before them.

**_3._ **

The sound caused Razor Sharp to cheer back in their hiding spots and the Island to descend into wild, terrified hysteria.

**_2._ **

" _CANNONS READY!_ "

_**1.** _

"We _will_ free you."

_**GET READY.** _

" _NO!_ "

The beat dropped and all the teams burst from their positions to put on a show. The heroes paled as the white clouds turned pink and the Sun retreated to the horizon. Pink lasers filled the city while the music blasted distorted chimes and heavy bass.

"What do we do?!"

Cyan's chest clenched as his fists did.

"EVERYTHING WE CAN!"

He shot towards the incoming onslaught of toxic shapes and fired off lasers left, right and centre.

The other heroes shot off in different directions, dashing towards the other teams as they advanced towards the Central District.

. . . . .

The teams were quickly claiming the Island quickly. Firing lasers at anything and everything, but not any _one._

Their instructions were: "Create chaos but not death."

_Sounds easy enough._

The fucking _army_ of pink shapes from the Mountain was stewing up such a big shitstorm to the east, it made their job a cinch since most of the "pure" forces were dealing with them.

"FIRE!"

Cyan, yellow and green beams of energy burned through the air.

_Ok, it's less easy now._

The Volcano District team, just entering the Central District, faced their first wave of defence.

"MACABRE, ON YOUR RIGHT!"

"WOAH! Thanks!"

"Go around the Call Center!"

"Codes! Go up!"

"Head for the Tree-!"

"CHIP ZEAL!!"

" _AAAAAGH_!"

"OH SHIT!

"Chip's hit!!"

"Ha-ah! I'm... _fine_!"

"NO, YOU'RE REALLY NOT!"

Chip slipped and crashed into the next slanted rooftop, painting the grey tile a nice shade of fuchsia. The flower wheezed as he clutched the wound on his chest. The rest landed on a rooftop higher up. The Boss cursed.

"CODES, CLAY AND ASH! MAKE SURE HE GETS SOMEWHERE SAFE! I'll deal with these sons of bitches myself."

While the other 3 got to work, Macabre pulled out both staffs and connected them. He sent a wave of energy up the pole and a massive blade formed. He leapt from the top of the building, summoning smaller wisps to swirl around him. The ghost raised the enormous scythe above his head.

" _ **You motherfuckers just messed with the wrong shapes.**_ "

He felt strong bolts of pink arc off of his quickly descending form and to pleasure in seeing unadulterated horror cross their little faces.

" _ **Say hello** **to**_ ** _the fucking Grimm Reaper, assholes_.** _"_

. . . . .

Through all the chaos, music and flashing lights, it was impossible for the Treeangle to properly see what was going on. All the mortals were screaming and panicking.

Special forces were unprepared, despite having waited for this for weeks. Its powers were rapidly being depleted and its senses were fading, the pink energy doing a great of corroding them.

Its hold on the Mountain went lax as it began to wither and it could already feel the energies it had control over start to break free. It could sense a certain _someone_ struggling under its hold, however, it suppressed them down with the last of its strength. They thrashed softly before going still again much to its relief.

It was weakening too quickly and the Officials were frantically trying to save what was left of it. All the systems were locked it would take to long to hack each of them.

_This was **bad**._

. . . . .

As the music softened into something less chaotic, Blixer strode up to the top of the mountain where two large pillars of crystal rose from the peak. The melody echoed across the landscape, making the air hum with toxic energy. His long jacket whipped in the wind behind him and he advanced up the Icy path.

Blixer had the perfect shot from the top of the mountain. No skyscrapers or any high rise buildings were in his line of fire at all.

It was almost too good to be true.

He took a breath of the freezing cold and locked his gaze with his destination. All those years growing up trapped with his grief to planning for one last attempt at saving everything he cared about...

It all lead up to now.

This could be it.

This could be the end-

" _Blixer!_ "

The latter froze up at the voice.

_No._

Fresh paused with a frosty sigh and summoned his larger arms but remained facing away from the cube behind him. Said cube was running up the mountain, chasing his retreating figure through the glistening white and grey.

"Blixer! _Wait!_ "

Cube stopped to catch her breath a few meters behind him.

"...Have you come to stop me?"

A pause for huffing.

"Not quite!"

That piqued his attention. Blixer turned to stare at the Cube who had decided to join him in walking up the mountain.

"What?"

The two reached the top and stopped.

"You-... You know how I don't want anyone else to get hurt, right?"

A soft growl built up in his chest.

"Yes. You betrayed us for what you said was that reason."

The other wilted.

"Look, I know what I did was unforgivable and you can hate me as much as you want but... I want to help you now. I want to try and make a difference!"

Fresh rubbed his eye, his shoulders relaxing.

"How?"

"That level of concentrated power could kill hundreds of thousands of shapes if they aren't far enough away from it. I want to use my energy to create barriers on the buildings leading up to the Tree. This way shapes can stay safe while-"

" _Cube._ "

A tall pyramid landed to the side of them. His dark cloak billowed around him, exposing a sleek pair of knee-length black boots with a slight heel (as if he wasn't already a fucking skyscraper) and two flaps of fabric.

"State your business here."

"I-"

Blixer stepped towards him, interrupting the smallest.

"She says she wants to help."

Barracuda took long strides towards them before towering over the blue shape. Cube grew nervous. Pyran had been intimidating at times as a hero but now it was on a _whole new level_.

_He's a tall bitch now._

"I-I jus-"

" _Save it..._ We will accept your assistance but, _mark my words._ If you betray us again, I will make sure you **_burn._** _Just as **I** did._"

Cube shut up, both remorseful and curious. Cuda went up to the monstrously sized crystals and placed the last three Pink Treeangle shards between the bisecting pillars of diamond.

"This should enhance the beam by around 90%..."

Fresh walked up to the pillars of crystal, the other following behind him like a stray dog.

"We should be able to kill the Tree with one shot... _if all goes well,_ "

Cuda glared at the traitor that stood before him as he spoke. Cube stiffened.

"-so make it count."

Blixer put a gentle, and mildly reassuring, hand on her shoulder.

"Go do your thing."

She nodded to them and leapt down the mountain face, leaving the two alone at the top.

. . . . .

Macabre watched as bright blue walls shot up from the concrete in front of the Tree, sealing all the buildings off but not the Tree itself. All the panicked shapes were locked inside, watching the havoc ensuing in anxious terror.

The blue bitch from the prison break stopped in front of the building he was standing on and so he quickly joined her.

The living ghost landed in a flurry of smoke and wisps, his scythe resting proudly on his shoulder and dwarfing his form.

Now that he was a Boss, he was easily taller than her nasty bitch ass.

"What are you doing?"

She surprised him by not even flinching at his sudden presence, nor at his voice.

_Impressive..._

Cube sighed. The hollowed forlorn tone in her speech caught him off guard.

_So she **can** in fact emote..._

_...... He owes Lycan 12 Beatpoints._

"I'm trying to make amends."

And on that note, she was gone.

_Poof! Just like that!_

"..."

.

.

"... huh."

. . . . .

**50% of the Inforcers have been knocked down.**

**Neura-field activated.**

**Serial number deleted.**

_**THE REVOLUTION IS IMMINENT.** _

**10.**

"WHAT?!"

Cyan paused blasting and looked back at the screens.

**9.**

Penta watched as the shapes he was facing change formation and attempt to breeze straight past him.

"Their song is preparing for a second drop."

**8.**

Lady Itvara jogged up to the frigid mountaintop in her thick winter jacket. She'd never met Razor Sharp's leader personally and she wanted to be there the moment they won.

**7.**

Blixer smiled.

The teams' distraction was paying off in two ways. The Treeangle had been blinded and the air was rich with the energy he needed to finish it off.

**6.**

"Ready, Blixer?"

The latter nodded to Cuda and began drawing in as much energy as he could hold.

_**5.** _

Lady Itvara joined the pyramid and the two shared a glance.

_This better work..._

**_4_.**

Clementine felt the toxic air being pulled towards the mountain. A feeling they were unfortunately familiar with.

"Blixer."

**_3_.**

Magenta swirled around the Mountain, the concentrated energy converging around one point.

And Cyan realized too late.

"No..."

**_2_.**

"Good luck, New Fresh."

_**1.** _

" _For Avali. For Pentako. For us. And for **me.**_ "

_**GET RE-** _

Blixer let out a howling war cry as he released the beam from his eye. The crystals pulsed before the mountain shook. The bass of the music exploded as a stupendously overpowered laser sliced through the air, shattering rock and glass alike as it passed.

Barracuda and Lady Itvara were unaffected in their proximity, being pink shapes, but any unprotected "pure" shape would get shattered within 20ft of the beam.

Blixer adjusted his stance as his shape strained to weaponize the energy, sinking his claws into the rock. His head was beginning to hurt but he didn't let that stop him now.

. . . . .

The shapes inside buildings watched in terror as the pink bolt streaked straight towards their deity. The blue barriers did nothing to stop all the windows from breaking but protected them from the sheer amount of corruption.

But that was what they couldn't understand.

_Why would a blue shape aid the destruction of the Islands??_

_Where were the heroes?!_

_Why was this happening again?!_

The pure shapes collectively shut their eyes (or closed their vision), bracing themselves for the demise of all they held dear.

. . . . .

Macabre watched from atop one of the skyscrapers with a smile.

" _Lycan to Macarbre! Lycan to Macabre! Howzit looking out there, Reaper?_ "

The wisp happily replied through the comms.

"The Tree doesn't stand a chance."

. . . . .

_It didn't_. 

The Treeangle legitimately, at the core of its being, honest to any other higher power out there, did _not_ want to die.

It would admit that.

But it supposed that there were better ways of going about this crucial mission...

Maybe it could have been a little more gentle with the inferior creatures...

It was never meant to end this way.

It was meant to send a message back to its decaying homeworld saying that it was waiting for them.

It was meant to be a hero, a saviour, someone to rely on.

It was never meant to die like this in this dump!

.

.

.

No matter, now.

Its fate...

**Was sealed.**

.

★

.

The blast of pure White Energy shook the entire archipelago.

The shards increasing the beam shattered, and so did the crystals.

The last notes of pink victory rang through the air as the shockwave of glistening emptiness swallowed enveloped Blixer's vision.

_Just like the day it came._

_._

_._

_._

_But he felt no pain this time._

The white receded, and instead of finding an apocalyptic city, found beautiful vibrant colour.

The grass, the trees, the water...

It was no longer just blue-green, green and blue, it was turquoise, emerald and cerulean. Opal clouds, periwinkle and violet sky, amber sun...

The air hummed with a rainbow of different energies, all existing in harmony.

Blixer fell to his knees upon the slate grey and ashen white mountain top.

_It was just as he remembered it._

Cuda's eye stayed fixated on the beautiful burnt umber, cyan, charcoal and olive skyline before him.

It was like nothing he'd ever seen.

He was at a loss for words.

"I-... Blixer-?"

A small sob cut him off.

Lady Itvara was balling her eye out with joy.

"We did it! We're finally-!"

She turned to him and abruptly took a step back out of shock, her happy tears cutting short.

Cuda looked down at Blixer who was... remarkably still, and back to her.

"What?"

She raised a shaky hand.

Barracuda lifted his fingers to find them coated in the bright honey-lemon he so feared.

_He... wasn't sure how to feel._

. . . . .

Perfect silence.

Macabre dropped his scythe, the blade deactivating as soon has it left his lax grip. His eyes looked around a the bright new world in front of him.

He failed to notices the deep aquamarine coating his flesh in his shock.

. . . . .

Lycan peered outside of the Mountain, followed by hundreds of other shapes. His mottled pale sap green and hot pink skin was embraced by the light of the rising sun. Whispers of awe turned to loud cheering as everyone filed out of the Mountain behind him.

. . . . .

The two shards on Cube's head dissolved into the air as she covered her mouth. The Treeangle had finally gone.

The wind whispered soft notes as it passed through and the birds darted through the city.

It was... _wonderful_.

. . . . .

The shapes of Agrobacter stood in shocked stillness as their home showed its true colours. A soft hum of murmuring rose up inside the buildings. The shapes were confused, wondering why they hadn't been destroyed yet. As the barriers fell, shapes sprinted outside to get a proper look at what exactly they were seeing.

. . . . .

The heroes settled on the rooftop overlooking Paradise City along with some members of Razor Sharp. Everyone was transfixed by the true kaleidescope of a world they live in.

"So... You weren't trying to destroy the islands?"

Termination Shock turned to Cyan.

"Fuck no! We never wanted that... We just wanted our home back and for all of us to get some fucking peace!"

She stared then at the cobalt horizon. Spectra followed on with the topic from next to her

"Blixer said that, before the Tree arrived and tampered with this place, everyone had The Ability. Anyone could dive into sound and the air was always filled with soft melodies on the wind..."

Tri pitched in.

"... How does he know that?"

Spectra and Shock's smiles faded. The hexagon spoke first.

"Oh. Did he not tell you?"

The four 13-year-olds blinked. Penta spoke first.

"Tell us what?"

. . . . .

Blixer rubbed his face harshly, trying and failing to get his silent tears to leave him.

An ochre yellow Cuda was awkwardly hugging Itvara, or rather she was hugging him...

Or strangling him, that works too.

He smiled, knowing that all was as it was and as it should be.

Fresh looked to the sky breathing the clean air.

It was then that he noticed the pinprick of lime in the endless azure. 

It was falling fast.

Blixer jumped from the Mountain and fired twin lasers out of his larger hands, propelling him through the air and out across the city.

The bright lime green object began picking up more speed as it fell.

And the closer it got the more familiar it became.

_And the faster he flew to catch them._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!
> 
> (Also, Lycan's hacker symbol is the symbol for hardcore mode in the game. And if you didnt catch it, Iso is the name of the idiot in charge of the Tesseract and, as you can probably tell, I took their name from Isosceles for the irony of it. 
> 
> Just putting that out there.)


	39. Oh, Lay Me Down On A Bed Of Stone (I Will Wait For You As I Rest My Soul)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Name: Hero - Pegboard Nerds (Feat. Elizaveta)

The green figure fell into his path and he grabbed them securely, letting his power cut off. Blixer held the person close to his chest and used his larger arms to kill his speed.

Fresh landed gently in the grove where the Tree had once stood. There was nothing but a pale crater stained with magenta left of it. Some shapes around him, dressed in grey robes were crying for his "blasphemy" to be punished but were quickly silenced by the ones in black.

Blixer stared at the stirring pentagon in his arms. The lime green shape "smiled" as he slowly recognised his face. The sphere's arms gripped him tighter and his breath hitched as he spoke.

" _Blixer?_ "

The latter smiled back wetly. He was just as young and bright as the day he died.

" _ **Pentako.**_ "

The two embraced each other, holding on like they were never going to let go. The pentagon was still wearing his uniform from that day, like he'd never taken it off.

A flash of warm lemon appeared in the corner of Fresh's eye and slow footsteps rang in his flattened ears. Barracuda's breath caught in his through as he approached the two.

"I-Is that-...??"

Blixer nodded as Pentako turned to face him. The lime shape stared at him incredulously.

"...Pyran? Wha-"

The tallest ran forward and pulled them both into a hug.

"I-I thought I-I-... I thought-"

The pentagon pulled away from Fresh to wrap an arm around Barracuda too. The pyramid's tall form shook as he struggled to get the emotions out.

"It's alright. I'm here..."

. . . . .

Cube ran into the Grove, shoving the Officials and priests out of her path. Seconds had felt like hours as she'd followed the pink and green trails. The sound of her brother's voice drove her forward until she fell to her knees in front of them, tears pouring from her eyes.

The three of them were sitting huddled under one of the trees, out of the way. She could feel their eyes scrutinising her as she sobbed.

" _I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry! I didn't-"_

"I forgive you, Lupe... You don't have to cry."

"B-But-"

Her brothers hauled her into a hug.

"No buts."

Cuda huffed at Blixer's interruption. The pentagon hugged the cube tightly.

"Do not be fooled, Cube, I am still indescribably furious with you, but I will forgive you for now."

Pentako poked the side of his head when he turned away.

"Py, don't be mean."

The pyramid pulled away and sat cross legged on the grass

"Actually... it's 'Barracuda' now... 'Pyran' doesn't really fit anymore..."

The lime shape stared up at him with a "smile".

"Ok then, _Barracuda_. Also, on that note, there's something I need to address..."

Blixer sat up.

"Yeah?"

". . ."

" _Si_ _nce when did you guys get an upgrade_?!"

.

.

.

Cuda, Cube and Blixer all burst out laughing.

_[One year later]_

"Hey... I uh... brought you some flowers? Heh... I remember you used to like these..."

Fresh placed the bouquet of rose, lemon and ivory flowers in front of the plaque and looked up at the hologram displayed. He removed his crown and knelt at her feet, tears filling his eye.

Avali's amber dress flowed gracefully in the artificial wind as she looked out across the grassy hills. Her smile seemed just as radiant as it once was. He curled up by her feet and rested his head on the metal.

"I know that I-... I wanted to say-... The thing is-... I-..."

He sighed.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have run off like that... I should have stayed with you... Maybe then... I-"

Blixer pulled his legs to his chest with a soft sniffle. He shut his eye and put his forehead to his knees.

"Gods, I'm sorry, Avali. You never deserved any of this-"

As the sun set and the wind combed through

the sweeping grasses, Blixer found

himself falling deep into a

_few memories he_

_would rather_

**_forget_ **

.

.

.


	40. THANK YOU SO FUCKING MUCH!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you!!!!

... Holy crap guys!...

I just wanted to say thank you for all the kudos you've given me and all the comments, most of which have made my day!

I never thought that people would actually like my work! I had initially made this for the hell of it and the fact that you guys enjoy my 3am creative aneurisms warms my heart.

You guys are bloody awesome!

I also want to say that I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and a happy New Year! I think we can all agree that 2020 was a steaming pile of horseshit. May your 2021 be a little less hellish.

The next book is out now!

\- Narius <3

PS. There will be a crack fic at some point, don't worry!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, feel free to have a look at my sad deviant art account: https://www.deviantart.com/emilianathe15th

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading =D


End file.
